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There are times where we do things that we believe are the right thing to do, even though they may hurt us immeasurably inside. We do these things because we believe that they will help someone we care about, because we think that we know better than they what is important, or what is right. And yet we never stop to consider that maybe the pain that we are trying to circumvent or to eliminate, is really just a trial, a test, for the happiness to come.

I frequently have these conversations. Though there are things said that could hurt me, I don’t take them to heart because I know they are hollow words. I know that there is no feeling behind them, for the feelings all point to the opposite conclusion. There is a simple innocence in trying to endure pain now, so that the potential of even greater pain in the future may be avoided. Yet if that future pain were never to come, wouldn’t it be more wise to endure any hardships that we face today?

I don’t presume to know everything about relationships, but I do know that no matter their formation, they will always require effort. There will always be trials and tribulations, there will always be issues and hardships. A very good friend of mine once studied in the United States, and met a man that was perfect for her. At a glance he didn’t seem ideal. He was very much older than she, and he lived half way around the world. They have persevered though, both holding faith that they will again be together and that life will be perfect. I am sure that they will both be happy in the end, as they are happy now.

For in today’s world, distance is only a measure. No longer is it something vast and ambiguous that separates people. I have been able to maintain or even improve friendships while I have been separated from people that I care about. Now, being separated from someone for whom I have such deep feelings, I cannot help but think that it is worth it, even preferable to the alternative. For I sometimes think that without this distance separating us, without truly coming to know each other’s thoughts, and the mettle of our hearts, that we would be unable to endure.

I once had the experience of being in a long-distance relationship. It failed. I now propose that for a relationship to have true strength, it must be able to endure this hardship. If indeed it can endure, and I am confident that it will, then you must then know that it can endure anything. And that is something that is worth more than anything else. What is more important than love? What is more worthwhile of sacrifice?

Nothing.