What I Won't Give Up For Love

I took a sociology class my last year in high school. Academically it was an easy A, but content-wise, we covered some tough subjects. I remember when Mr. Teacher tried to make us define love. That was a disaster...I still remember some of the answers-

"Love is what makes you all sparkly inside!”

“Love is, ummm, like, special and good.”

“Love means that you want to be with that person for rest of your life, even they are poor and ugly and mean to you.”

He then asked us if we would be willing to drop everything and everybody in our lives to follow someone we loved. Several of the girls said yes, and a few like me, were vigorously shaking their head no. (My answer has since changed several times...)

This post isn't going the direction I planned, but let's see if I can make my point.

I think everyone has one thing they would not be willing to sacrifice for Love.

Don't get me wrong, ya'll. Love is wonderful. It's delicious and exciting and moving and powerful.

BUT.

I think everyone has one thing they would not be willing to sacrifice for Love.

Go with me here. Before I reveal my one thing, I'll lay down a few givens:

-We will assume from here that I am referring to the love of a man. (Woman, for my male readers.)

-We will assume that my relationship with God is unquestioned. Meaning, we will automatically assume that I would never give up my relationship with God for a man.

-We will assume that I am sharing this out of a desire to be open and honest, and NOT to bash anybody, anything, anywhere. Seriously, it's all love =)

And now....my one thing...

I will NEVER give up good treatment of myself for love.

When you're in love, you sacrifice, and compromise for the sake of the relationship. Ladies, you bite your tongue in an argument even though you're dying to lash out. You sit and watch boring sports and try not to ask too many questions to annoy him. You baby him when he has a cold even though when you're dying of pneumonia, he expects you to suck it up.

Men, you sit on the phone for hours and listen to her whine about her day. You sit and watch her stupid sappy chick flicks and pretend not to enjoy them. You go with her to the mall and wait for her to try on a million outfits that look the same and tell her how cute she looks in all of them.

It's life! It's love! But I repeat, I will NEVER give up good treatment of myself for love. When I'm single, I can buy myself things, take myself out, do things that I enjoy and make me happy. If no one else on earth is showing me love, I know how to show myself love.

You remember that Tyler Perry movie, “I Can Do Bad All By Myself”?( I won’t get on my anti-Tyler Perry soapbox right now, I promise) Despite the horrible plot and acting that went on, the thought isn’t necessarily a bad one.

Love does require sacrifice, but it should never be one-sided. Men, if she’s constantly twisting your arm to buy her things, and do things for her, but she never supports the things you love? Think twice. Women, if he expects you to drop everything and come running, but never pays attention to your needs or shows you appreciation? Think twice.

God intended the love between a man and woman to be a reflection of our relationship with Him. And anyone who’s ever experienced the awesome love of God? You know exactly what I’m talking about.

I find myself lacking a good ending to this post as well, but seeing how long this turned out, I have to end it here:

What is one thing you cannot give up for love?


♥~Tiarra♥

P.S.  I think this will be my last love-related post for a little while. I don’t want to start sounding redundant, and there are so many other things I want to write about!