Unrequited Love

Ah, Benny wrote this. Read it if you want. :)

Is there anything worse than being in the throes of unrequited love? If you've ever been trapped in that situation you'll know the feelings of true heartache and loss. How can something that feels so real and so deep be a mistake?

There are two sides to unrequited love: the lover and the rejecter, but perhaps the only one familiar to us is the lover. In reality, though, the rejecter also experiences a range of unpleasant emotions on a par with those of the suitor such as frustration and guilt.

Unrequited love is commonly regarded as a noble, selfless and stoic willingness to accept suffering. Some say that one-sided love is better than none, but like half a loaf of bread, it is likely to grow hard and mouldy sooner. I beg to differ; in my experience nothing good comes from unrequited love. Any lingering hope on the part of the lover is a false hope and of no value. It is neither noble nor wise to all unrequited love to linger but better to accept its existence in order to overcome and move past the sorrow. Otherwise it's like pouring something of great value down a drain.

The world is full of thieves who want to take away from you everything that is good; thieves such as bad circumstances, mental illness or spiteful people. These things can bring about the appearance of unrequited love whereas in reality, the love is indeed reciprocated. In, I'm sure, many circumstances the object of a person’s love does not know how to respond or is simply not aware of deep affection another has for them. The chance of this being the case is cause for many to hang on to someone, believing that in time they will 'come around'.

On a personal level, I've been on both sides of this equation. When I was younger, I allowed myself to become attached to unobtainable women. I guess it made me feel alive on some level as in my heart I felt I'd never really be with anyone.. that relationships were simply too difficult for me to attain or maintain. More recently, I've considered I may be the object of other people's love that I'm not able to return because I just don't feel the same. As someone who wants everyone to be happy and someone who loves to help other's other, the situation is problematic at best and one I'm only beginning to learn how to handle properly. On one hand it's good to be straight with someone but on the other it's good to not hurt their feelings. In this context, it's impossible to find an outcome that's immediately satisfying for both parties. It's no wonder so many people are wary of loving or of being loved.

Does anyone think about the unrequited love of God? Presiding over a world filled with people who don't want to know him, deny him or give no more than half measures. We give him so little in return but he still loves us just the same. He of all people would know best of all what it is like to be rejected by those he loves.