love are u here?

Yesterday I met up with up an acquaintance of mine and she ended up talking her heart out to me..

Her story was like this- she was brought up in a big family, had an arranged marriage at a very young age. And thats where her story of love begins- the sacrifice of giving up everything from her life at home and coming into his. The struggle of being a part of his family. the struggle of acceptance and the struggle of doing it alone. A marriage of now 15 years of love and support, to him and his family, ends. It ends with the husband having an affair. The marriage ending there would have been relatively easy, but life is never that easy- it comes with lies and insults and embarrassment- and as always it eventually ends up in pain and loneliness and yes, more pain.

And so I ended up thinking about all the very many relationships around me, so read about it and then maybe you guys can help me figure out- where is the love over here..

- The female who gave up her family, her life, her money, her everything just to be with this guy who wanted to marry her, who after staying with her for 3 months just walked out.

- Or the guy who loved her more than anything else and she ended calling the marriage a sham coz she never actually loved him in the first place

- Or the most common thing of believing in someone and that someone cheating on you, for like - forever.

- The girl who loves and trust him beyond anything, she has given herself up completely physically and mentally and he is just not ready to commit or anything for that matter, but decides to stay on with her as long as its all hunky dory, and the worse part- is that she lets him, and he gets away with it unscathed leaving her emotionally scarred- probably for life.

- The couple where- one needs the other and this significant other does not love, want or even need you and will run away at the slightest hint of a hassel?

- The guy u thought u loved but he ended up stalkin you..

- The guy who got married to you because he loved you and yet kept you hidden from the world and ultimately gets married in front of the whole world to someone else.

- The guy who married his love but yet went elsewhere following his carnal desires.

- The girl who never believed in anyone and cheated on every guy she dated.

- The girl who takes her husband for granted.

-The one who does some thousands odd things just so that the other can appreaciate..

Dont get me wrong- I am not getting you to question your relationships- I am merely stating the facts going on around me and frankly all this scares me. I have grown up in a very loving family and now I am scared that this concept really does not exist anymore. So I guess what I am trying to say is that I really don't want to fall in love if its going to be any of that...

I dont know how much I believe in love- but I know this - love makes you or breaks you. Love helps you survive most and helps you get through some of the most difficult times. It makes you wonder what would you do without it. Yes, you dont need while its not there like the very common saying- out of sight- out of mind. but I guess when it does show up on ur doorstep, it does make you so very vulnerable or gullible- which is frankly, sad. Coz u end up giving up or putting in so much of yourself - that it inevitably becomes your crutch- it becomes a drug that, if u decide to give up on u have to go through a painful detoxing phase.

So, when ur in love - u inevitably tend to mould/sharpen/edit/polish yourself to fit in- to fit in with that one, who you love. Most tend to give up a part of their selves- this is sacrifice. the part you give up could be anything- maybe a nasty habit, a bad company. changing a certain ritual for the benefit for the other- anything- good or bad.

Simply put - love is the act of loving someone very selflessly- very genuinely.

So I guess the question here is-  does this happen anymore?Is there truly some genuine love out there? is there truth in the love that u have?