This Is How I Learnt to Pause

What happens when we chase permanence not perfection?

When a friend mentioned that people today have a consumerist approach to relationships, I paused. After all, what occupied my mind had finally reached my heart.

It hit home.

I knew what it felt like when someone you love abandons you, but I paused, afraid my words would fail me again.

Ysra says, “If you’re afraid to write it, that’s a good sign. I suppose you know you’re writing the truth when you’re terrified.”

I know my truth.

So many of us today are chasing perfection in our partners not because of our need to feel fulfilled but out of convenience. Permanence is rare. Perhaps it is our growing intolerance or inability to grapple with each other’s flaws that prevents us from staying the course.

But why put in the effort at all when we can just start over again?!

When we finish, we emerge stronger from it. We realize more of ourselves and the person we share our journey with. As time passes, we break down our boundaries and slowly expand our reality to accommodate theirs. And as our locus shifts, a whole new dimension of kindness and beauty unravels within us.

This is the best possible version of ourselves and it is unattainable without sacrifice.