i have learned

I have learned that loving someone is the most natural and beautiful thing a person can do. It’s also the most selfish. You do it to feed your ego, boost your energy, satisfy a desire, ease up a longing, realize a dream, or maybe complete an otherwise substandard life.

I have learned that it’s easy to love a person if you have hundreds of reasons to. But what if you have hundreds of reasons not to? I have learned that the true measure of love is when you love a person not because of, but even if. I have learned that one has not loved until one has forgiven.

I have learned that while it takes greater effort to forgive than to be angry, the latter is more tiring.

I have learned that forgiveness is not absolute. It never is. You always keep a little anger in your heart to protect what little dignity you have left. Just a tiny bit of anger—barely noticeable yet unmistakable, like a trace of incense in the air. One that you secretly and painstakingly nourish every chance you get. Subtle, yet possibly strong enough to cool the flame when it gets out of control.

I have learned that in life it is imperative to make difficult decisions once in a while. Decisions that many will never ever understand. Decisions that you can't even defend by pure reason or logic. Decisions that are not necessarily right, but are justifiable at least to yourself. After all, at the end of the day, you only have one obligation and that is to please the self.

I have learned that when you choose your battles, you don’t always pick the one that has the greatest survival potential. Sometimes, you pick a lose-lose situation that’s worth giving up your life for.

I have learned that the kind of love that's worth keeping is the kind of love that has survived battles, the cruel twists and turns of fate. The kind that persists even if its existence is constantly threatened. The kind that goes beyond reason, almost to the point of stupidity. The kind that hurts, the kind that thrills, the kind that pushes you to your limits, the kind that screams for world attention. Because true love—or at least the real one—is not the kind that knows no pain. It’s the one that’s been stabbed one too many times and still survives.

I have learned that in love, no matter how much you’ve learned, you’ll never really learn. Because you know that in love, there are mistakes that are worth repeating again and again and again.

I have learned...that I haven't learned at all.