It takes more than love to maintain a relationship

Love is one of those emotions that everyone deserves to feel in their lives. It’s one of those feelings that changes who you are and makes you connect to a new person.

But is love enough to keep people together?

As a child of divorce, I have seen from a young age that sometimes love is not enough to keep people together. People are constantly changing and learning, and sometimes you outgrow the person that you love. That’s not necessarily a bad thing either, it’s just something that happens.

In friendships it happens as well, as sometimes you’re just on a different path than your friends, and while that love for them is still present you drift apart. I have experienced time and time again a situation where I would still do anything to help someone I loved, but that love we had wasn’t enough to keep us in a strong friendship.

I think coming to terms with love not being enough is the hardest pill to swallow, because it almost doesn’t make sense. If two people love each other why isn’t that good enough? Why can’t love make everything work?

But I think people are looking at love as though it is magic, when in reality, it’s just a feeling like anger or sadness. Love does not have the ability to solve every problem you and your significant other have.

Every person and every relationship is different — so while in some cases a love of each other might be enough, in others, more might be needed. Some people want core values shared between their significant others, and while they may love the person, those values might not line up.

It is also important for us to remember that love is built on compromising and not on sacrifices. Sure, every relationship might require some sacrifices from both sides — but it’s when it gets to the point where you are sacrificing yourself,  it becomes problematic. A relationship should be one that builds you up, not one that changes every core aspect about yourself.

Sometimes people are just too different, and that might hinder them in having a successful life together. It’s important for us to remember that loving someone might mean you have to let them go in order for you to better yourself and for the other person to do the same.