Love is a beautiful thing. We make a big deal out of love. Valentine's Day, weddings, flowers, gifts, rings, candy, and other romantic gestures abound, especially this time of year. Yep, love is great, but trust is better. If I had to choose, I'd pick trust over love any day. You may love me, but will you catch me if I fall? You may love me, but can I say anything to you and trust you with my words? You may love me, but can I share my feelings with you and trust you to keep them safe? You say you love me, but do your actions match your words? I hope you can answer yes to these questions. I hope I can, too.
Don't get me wrong, I am NOT down on love. I truly believe it is a wonderful thing, but sometimes I think we throw it out there too easily. I am not expert on relationships. Heaven knows, I can't seem to get it right, but I recently listened to a friend talk about his/her struggling relationship and wonder, why do you stay? Their issues weren't the day to day frustrations all relationships face, but "trust" breaking issues... cheating, lying, and a total lack of communication with a healthy dose of insecurities heaped on top. Trust is all but gone and neither is doing anything to fix or change it.
If you love someone, but you can't trust them, how can you say you even have a relationship? Do you work at making it better and try to build that trust back? It's hard, but not impossible. I think, if you love someone, you owe it to yourself and them to try. However, if you work at it, make changes and even seek outside help and still can't trust again, why stay in a situation that is only going to continue to hurt? How can you even say that is love? Sometimes, you just have to love and trust yourself more and walk away. I believe in love, but I believe in trust to keep that love strong.
And for my friend.... love yourself.
