By
Updated 7 years ago,December 6, 2017
I am slowly learning to believe actions over language.
It is easy to say those three little words.
It is easy to offer compliments.
Unsplash / Jacob Postuma
It is easy to make promises but it is far more difficult to keep them.
Claiming love is not enough.
I cannot settle for emptyI miss yousandIm sorrieswith no truth behind them.
I cannot blindly believe someones words when their actions fail to back them up.
I am slowly learning mistakes are inevitable, butrepeatedmistakes are a conscious choice.
If someone offends me once, they deserve a chance to explain themselves.
Unsplash / Jacob Postuma
A chance to set things right.
A chance at redemption.
However, once that mistake multiples from one to two to three, the forgiveness must end.
If someone turns hurting me into a habit, then they must lose their privileges.
They must lose their placeholder in my life.
I am slowly learning how easy it is to mistake obsession for love.
It is not love when the emotions areone-sided, unreciprocated.
It is not love when one person gives and the other takes without ever switching roles.
I am slowly learning strength isnt about standing my ground, aboutrefusing to walk awaywhen the relationship gets hard.
Strength is about keeping my standards high and expecting to be treated with a certain level of decency.
Strength is about knowing when the relationship is beyond being salvaged.
I am slowly learning the difference between healthy and unhealthy affection.
I am slowly learning that love and pain are two separate entities.
They are not required to go hand-in-hand.
Misunderstands do not have to end in arguments.
Arguments do not have to end in tears.
Tears do not have to end in sleeping on the edge of the couch.
I am slowly learning I do not have to accepthellas a substitute for heaven.
I do not have to mistake pain for passion.
I am slowly learning love is not meant to hurt like this.
Love is not drunken arguments and screaming matches at midnight.
Love is not jealousy and control.
Love is not growing resentment and lingering pain.
I am slowly learning love is meant to bring peace.
Love is meant to nurture.
Love is meant to heal.
