When was it decided that our lives were something to get through instead of something to fall in love with? Have you noticed just how much time we spend waiting around? We wait for Friday, we wait for summer, we wait ’till we’re skinnier, or we wait ’till we’re in a relationship. We spend all this time waiting for some future version of ourselves who finally has it all together.
Meanwhile, our coffee is getting cold, the leaves outside are starting to fall, and somehow we’re missing the very life we’re so desperate to improve. So, what if we stopped waiting for someone else to make our lives feel romantic?
I often find that those around me are constantly saving their favorite things for a version of themselves that they think deserves it more. I know I’m guilty of it also. Are you? What if we didn’t need a partner to be in love? What if instead we bought the flowers, wore the outfit, and took ourselves out to dinner for a romantic evening alone?
It’s important to romanticize the ordinary things, too: the long drive with your favorite song playing, the extra ten minutes in the shower, the walk when the air feels just right. Not every moment has to be extraordinary to be worth remembering. Sometimes, the little things are the whole point.
Starting your own love affair emphasizes how you can be a work in progress and still be the love of your own life. You don’t need a partner, a perfect body, a dream job, or a five-year plan. Maybe the art of being alive is realizing that you’ve been here all along. And what a shame it would be to spend your whole life waiting to be chosen, when you could have been choosing yourself all along.