I grew up with Disney movies setting unrealistic images of what cute and perfect relationships look like. But as I got older, my expectations rose as I became obsessed with Hollywood’s romantic comedies. What they rarely show us on TV are the complications of finding the right person and, better yet, keeping the right person. At first, I actively sought out someone who would fit my perfect checklist inspired by watching too many teen movies. Eventually, I evolved into a hopeless romantic, who denied her desire to find her knight in shining armor, while secretly waiting to be impressed.
My unrealistic expectations set me up for failure. I created these perfect ideals for the perfect boyfriend, and if he was even slightly different than who I had in my mind, I would find some way to destroy the budding relationship between us. I told myself that the reason I couldn’t find someone was because my standards were too high. And in this way, I spent the entirety of secondary school with my head in the clouds daydreaming about my imaginary prince charming who was never going to show up.
Unfortunately, there are unrealistic societal expectations that make normal people doubt their messy relationships. We need to remember that the tough part about real life is that after we finally meet our soulmates our lives don’t just end happily ever after. We actually live after the movie ends.
