Your Fickle Valentine

You say you’re lonely and I say I don’t understand. You want to be wanted, you need to be needed, you crave relationships with purpose, depth, trust and reciprocation. You want love. That I understand.

I want you to be loved, because I believe that’s where the best ‘you’ will emerge, pushing through the tangle of insecurities, worries, and uncertainty to surface buoyantly and embrace your unbelievable good fortune. You’re willing to lay it all down for the real thing, without hesitation. Oh my friend, I hope it’s soon. But I won’t make any baseless, clichéd predictions just to soothe your soul. I’m not going to blow smoke up your ass telling you, “It’ll come, the right one is out there, just be patient” because I fucking hate hearing that shit.

The truth is, love may or may not find you before you settle for something less just to avoid growing old alone. I don’t know why some people get it, others have it and lose it, and still others either never see it or don’t recognize it when they do. Some people die alone and bitter, and while it’s comforting to the rest of us to believe bitterness was the cause of their aloneness, it’s just as disconcertingly possible it was the other way around. I don’t believe love can be baited any more than it can be prevented.

What I do believe with absolute certainty is the outcome of that crapshoot has nothing — NOTHING — to do with how deserving you are. It’s not fair, it’s not fathomable, but there you have it.

You are worthy. And yet you are alone.

Love is a capricious bitch, buddy, but I hope she finds you just the same.