Most people get excited over something new. It's almost like you're a child at Christmas, opening that gift that you've wanted for months and months and begged your parents for and now, finally, you open it. And just like on the TV shows and commercials, you're so excited to finally have it! There it is, your shiny new toy, in your hands, and you're never going to let it go! This is the best day ever! The sheer joy inside is bubbling over, seeping from every pore, and each and every person that looks at you knows exactly how excited you are. You don't eat, sleep, shower, do ANYTHING without the new toy, because that's how amazed and happy and appreciative you are that you have it.
Relationships are very similar. You meet someone new and if you connect in a special way, you want to spend way too much time together. You always want to talk or text or see each other. If you're not able to do one of those things, you find yourself daydreaming about that other person, or wondering what they're doing or what they're thinking. You get anxious waiting for that phone to ring or to hear a knock on your door. When the phone isn't ringing you find yourself asking "what if"? What if they don't like me? What if I'm coming on too strong? What if they find someone better? But when you're talking or when you're together, you can't find the right words to speak, because your mind and heart and mouth are all at odds with each other. All of them want to say something, and none of them are the same thing. Your mouth just wants to start spurting gibberish. Your mind knows you need to take things at a right pace and is trying to keep it that way, but your heart is just fluttering all over. In the same room you can't be without the other person's touch.
Back to that gift. How many people still have that one gift from when they were a child? I remember being excited over a new bike, Transformer, G.I.Joe... The novelty wore off. The bike was left out in the rain and got some rust here and there, and I outgrew it. The Transformer got buried in the back yard when a tunnel we dug collapsed on it trying to save the innocent G.I.Joe from being buried alive. And the G.I.Joe? Well, lets just say the little rubber band that holds the top half to the bottom half does not twist more than 10 times. You were so excited over the toys at one point. But then, they weren't new anymore. And yeah, you'd pick them up and play with them here and there, but there was always something new and better that you wanted more. It happens a lot.
Relationships are very similar. After the newness wears off, there has to be substance. If there's no substance, the relationship doesn't last. You can try, and you can fight it, but in the end it won't work. And heed my warning, ALL RELATIONSHIPS END. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Now, I'm not saying you and your love muffin that have been together 7 years now are going to break up. You could get married and have 20 kids and live into your 70's together. But your relationship will end. Maybe it's amicable, and you decide you're not meant for each other. Maybe one of you screw up or cheat or you're just not happy. Or maybe one of you pass away. They all end. Some how, some day. What's important is what you do with the time you have together.
That 70 year old couple you see walking down the street had their rough patches. They've had their ups and downs in their relationships, their highs and lows. I'm sure there were times where one of them may have felt like leaving, or even did for a time. But they took a chance and made the best of what they had. When they hit a hard patch, the fought through it. They made it work. Anything worth having is worth fighting for. Knowing something is going to end is no excuse for not taking every second you have and making it worth something and making it as memorable as possible. I, for one, would rather know that I have amazing memories of something that only lasted a little while, than only thoughts about what may have happened.
You never know what life holds for you. You can walk out into the street tomorrow and get hit by a car, or you could walk into the gas station and buy a winning lottery ticket. Point is, stop being scared. Stop trying to protect yourself from everything. You can't know joy without pain. You can't know happiness without sorrow. Sometimes you need to hurt a little to remember you're really alive. So get up off your ass and start living. Start taking some chances. Put yourself out there. You may be surprised at the results.
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