‘Tis Better to Have Loved and Lost, Than To Never Love At All.’

A few weeks back, I was having a discussion with someone who introduced me to this quote by William Shakespeare: "Tis Better to Have Loved and Lost, Than To Never Love At All." After mulling over it for quite sometime, I decided I don't quite agree with it. Yes, I would like to fall in love but I cannot handle the pain and suffering of losing someone that I love. That pain is everlasting. It's crippling and agonizing. Worst of all, there's no cure for it.

The pain and suffering of loss outweighs the pleasure of love. Imagine instantly connecting with someone, conversing with them on a day-to-day basis, but then suddenly having to cut them off. Someone who was once a part of your life is now a stranger. It doesn't matter for how many days or weeks or months but they were a part of your life. And you were a part of theirs. But when the person you crave affection and attention from, begins to become disinterested, turns cold or distant, the ache that follows is worse than a burn or a cut. At least, burns and cuts heal with time. They may leave scars but eventually the skin repairs. Heartaches last much longer. It's not easy to get over people. It could last days, months or even years. But everyone's journey is different.

I think I would rather deprive myself of love than to indulge in it because I have a fear of heartbreak. I know how I am. If I truly love someone, then I will give it my all and I will endeavor to keep them in my life as long as possible but if I don't, then I will never string them along. I won't even give them the choice of becoming friends because I don't think we can ever become friends with someone we love. Maybe we can go from friends to lovers but not vice versa. There's no "undo" button to love. I know most people might disagree because they are ok with being friends with their exes but I can't ever allow myself to do that. I firmly believe if that if your sentiments for someone can change, then they were never true to begin with. Feelings and emotions cannot just alter in the blink of an eye or can they? Maybe it's possible for some people but not for me. I guess you could say in this world of relationships and dating, I'm old school. I'm a one-man woman. But sadly, we're not living in the 18th century. But that's just how I am and I'm ok with it.

I learned that if I resort to dating, that I should brace myself for the consequences. In other words, I should be prepared to break someone else's heart or get my heart broken because unfortunately, that's just how relationships work. But why am I doing this? Why is being single and happy not an option? Why is it necessary that I need to find love? Again, I don't mind finding love but if I find it, I want to keep it...forever.