Love is complicated, and when a relationship ends, it makes love even more complicated. The relationship could have ended for many reasons – none of which made you stop loving the person. Some people carry a love for a past partner for years to come. Some people never fully move on past the love they have for someone else – even after a marriage and children.
About six years ago I met this amazing guy and fell in love in two days. I wouldn’t call it love at first sight; I would call it a connection. It was a connection that happened at the wrong time in both our lives. I was young and the feeling literally kicked me off my feet. The relationship didn’t last long, but I haven’t felt that same type of connection since.
I had not thought about that feeling in a while until I came across the movie Letters to Juliet on TV the other night. The movie consists of this widowed grandmother who travels across Italy with her grandson in an attempt to find her lost love from when she was fifteen. Of course, it’s a movie, so she ends up finding him, getting married and living happily ever after. But the thing that caught my attention the most was the idea of what if?
I have always been a firm believer that when a relationship ends, you pick up the pieces and you move on. But now I find myself thinking what if? The quote in the movie that moves me the most is:
“'What’ and ‘If’ are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: What if? What if? What if? I don't know how your story ended but if what you felt then was true love, then it's never too late. If it was true then, why wouldn't it be true now? You need only the courage to follow your heart” (Letters to Juliet).
Of course, having the courage to take a chance on a past failed love is extremely difficult. Remember that there is a big difference between taking a chance on a past love and never moving on. Don't waste your life waiting for someone to come back to you. Keep in mind that in life there will always be what ifs. What if you met your past partner later on? What if they didn’t cheat? What if you took a chance for love? For me, my what if will just be tucked away as a memory. What will yours be?
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