The Courage to Love

Facing Fear

I love reading meaningful quotes. I search for them and always save my favorites. This morning, I came across one by Alfred Lord Tennyson. He said:

“It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.”

Someone had left a question at the end. “Do you believe this is true?”

Absolutely. I do believe Tennyson’s statement is true.  What I find sad is the number of people I’ve talked to online and in person who tell me they have never known love, or even had one single meaningful relationship. They would like to, but …

“Love never lasts and I’m not setting myself up to be hurt, or to be just another statistic”...

I know better than to argue with them. I’ve tried. It’s fruitless and it goes nowhere. “To each his own”, but how can anyone, at the very least, not take a chance to see if a new relationship could actually be love? What are they afraid of?

I’m a Vietnam War widow. We were married for eight months when he was killed in action in Vietnam. Of those eight months, we were only together for four of them before he was sent to Vietnam.

Granted, that was a very short time, but even when I consider the devastation I lived with after it ended, I would never give our time together back, trade one second of it, or wish it had never been.

We had been high school sweethearts and I have many wonderful memories I can keep forever. Yes. I am a strong believer: “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

I think what it comes down to is having the courage to face one’s fear and a healthy dose of trust in one’s self. It really could turn into a good and loving relationship, maybe one that will last forever.

We can’t walk through life always taking the safe and easy route. Life is a challenge, so take up the gauntlet ... you can’t find love by playing it safe.

Poet/Writer/Author of 5 books.
Quora Top Writer 2018.
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