“How do you know you love me?”
“..because I like myself when I’m with you.”
I don’t know about you but that’s very powerful for me. It has been the most compelling confession of love I heard from someone.
My dear friend, try to ask yourself right now. Right at this very moment. Do you have people in your life wherein you can just say with full conviction, “You know what.. I truly like myself when I’m with _____.”
You do? Were you able to fill in the blank and finish the sentence?
Isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t that such a blissful feeling?
I like myself when I’m with him because he is.
Because he is the same yesterday, today, and certainly.. forever. Nothing is much more comforting than knowing that someone will be a constant. That someone will stay up late at night just to make sure you’d feel better about yourself. He will make sure that you fully understand one thing: “I will never leave you.”
He will never leave you even if you shut doors right at his face. He will never leave you even if you have chosen to be with someone else’s comfort. He will never cut his ties with you. He will never leave your side even if the silence you share is deafening. He’s the one who asks probing questions and not the one who demands all the answers.
He’ll let you go through the process and watch how you conquer every step of the way. And when your heart starts shouting, “I can’t do this anymore. I am so tired.” He’ll gently remind you, “Sweetheart, but I am carrying you all through out. Stop bringing the burden that is not yours. Let go of the pain. I am providing you the way to escape. Step out, now.”
He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He is single-minded. When he says he’ll do it, no doubt.. but he will do it. Each of his word is true. He is not slow in keeping his promises. He remembers every detail of who you are, even the way you want your coffee to be served. He pays attention on how you get shaky when you have to be the one who says “hello” first to the crowd and yet he catches you when things get awkward. He speaks for you.
He claims to be perfect for you when fear and all life’s uncertainties start to cripple in. When your insecurity is eating you alive, he’ll save you and remind you that he loved you first. That he is intentional about you. That he never let someone enter his heart without knowing full well what he was getting into. It’s not fake. Even if it hurts, his love for you is not fake.
I like myself when I’m with him because of who I am becoming.
The person makes you re-evaluate your life while he is busy showering you with new hopes and new beginnings. You realize that his presence teaches you things. Maybe it’s something as simple as welcoming the idea of drinking green tea in spite of how it turns your taste buds upside down. Or maybe it’s something as big as realizing that if this person who you see as good can love you when you’re in your darkest moments, then maybe you can start to realize all the good you have, and all the good you can be.
Yet, the person doesn’t try to change you. In fact, he loves every piece of you. You like yourself when you are with him because you feel the safest in his arms. You know that you are accepted for who you are. You know that his love is unconditional. And this is the kind of love which pushes you to grow.
You realized that to give someone a chance to be themselves, a chance to really feel comfortable and accepted is the most perfect gift you can give to anyone.
I like myself when I’m with him because of this.
This. It is genuine. It is real. It is not afraid to be hurt. It gives way. It waits. It’s the one who puts trust. Not the one that gives you sparks and makes your stomach turn but the kind that just lasts. And when all else fails,the greatest of things remain: love.
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