I’ve been “looking for love” since I was 8-years-old. Don’t believe me? When my mom passed away I found the following poem I wrote when I was 8-years-old still in her wallet: Love is…

See? Told you. So throughout my searching, I always tried to conform to what the girl I liked wanted me to be. “Lose a couple of pounds and I’ll be your girlfriend.” That was an odd one now that I think about it. But throughout my relationships I always put the woman on a pedestal and believed that I had to do and bee exactly what they wanted or else I wasn’t good enough for them. Guess what. That’s a lie. Don’t tell yourself that lie.

See, for a true relationship to form, you have to be accepting of the other person, and1 they have to accept you for who you are. When I met my wife it was right after I had given up. I had just come out of a bad relationship, like all my other ones, and I told myself not to even bother. If someone didn’t like me, so what. I stopped looking for love at that point. I just decided to start being myself and having fun. Then I met my wife and we’ve been together for over 11 years. We’ve accepted each other for everything that we are and love each other for it.

That’s a true relationship. If you’re trying to be something you’re not, you’re lying to your significant other in a way that will only hurt you and may hurt them.2

  1. the important part []
  2. I say “may” based on experience. []