This I Believe: Loving the Potential, and the Potential of Love

This I Believe has made multiple appearances at Yogademia, so you already know what it means to me. Over the weekend, I attended the wedding of one of my closest college friends, and this post grew out of that experience.

This I Believe: Loving the Potential, and the Potential of Love

We all want to feel that we have found the absolute love of our life: that no one can possibly be more incredible than the person we have found, and that life will only continue to get better and better with that person. When we fall in love, we are overwhelmed by the person we see before us, in the present. But I believe that true love is not only defined by what someone is now, but also by what they have the potential to become. This isn't to say wanting to change a person, but instead believing in, enjoying and appreciating what they aspire towards. It is faith in and a sense of wonder for what new and amazing qualities someone will develop over time, especially if they are motivated towards becoming more of who they believe they are deep inside. This personal potential is what leads to potential as a couple, and this is what leads to that profound, passionate, incandescent love of poems and fairy tales. I believe this is doubly true if all of the goals and intentions come to fall under the rubric of potential as a couple. There is limitless potential in our futures, both alone and together with others, and real love is what recognizes that rather than focusing on the evanescence of the present. It requires trust, time, and devotion to the cause, but we stand to gain everything by having unconditional faith in the conviction that, together, the best is yet to come. By loving the potential, I believe that we are all capable of reaching the true potential of love.