"Blinded" by Love

What really is a healthy relationship when we have all have become accustom to subjecting ourselves to some of the worst times of our lives out of – love?

“Did you talk to mom sweetheart?”

Her palms become sweaty, as she knows the next request.

“No.”

“You know she split our family apart. You do want mommy and daddy to live happy ever after, right?”

She can feel the tears wielding up waiting to pour out of her eyes like a leaky faucet.

“I just want you both to be happy.”

“Then go talk to mom, tell her how horrible she is for splitting us apart when she comes to pick you up. If you want us to both be happy then you will make this right.”

He sits at lunch shaking at the knees proceeding to slowly take a lick at the grape jelly rolling amongst the edge of the crust.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees his teacher casually begin to scroll over to him.

There is a lump in his throat, not from his sandwich, but from the guilt that is built within his chest or was this what butterflies felt like after all?

“May I see you?”

She snatches him by his wrist and chauffeurs him to her class before locking the door.

Pointing her long pale finger at him coaxing him to come forth before the inevitable happens. 

It is three in the morning and her eyes are wide with popped blood vessels.

Her mind projects the fight like her own drive in movie theater.

“Please don’t talk to me like that.”

“I can’t win with you … one of us has to be miserable for this relationship to work.”

“Why? We can meet in the middle this doesn’t have to be a fight.”

“Doesn’t work like that. I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, you never have been.”

“Would you just fucking stop already? I’m worthless – go find someone else!”

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Just fucking stop!”

“Stop what?”

“Doing this.”

Just like that, he slowly falls asleep leaving her behind to question what she had done beneath the shadows of ceiling fan blades. 

“Did you see what he said about me? I thought you would have defended me.”

His ears perk up startled.  

“He was a stranger on social media; I thought you could handle it by just blocking him.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the man in this relationship? Shouldn’t you be taking care of my needs?”

“I mean no, I mean yes… I-I don’t know.”

“So you don’t care about me is what you’re saying?”

“No, I do I promise.”

She huffs before storming out obnoxiously as she knows his guilt will get her ahead in this game towards something she wants later on. 

You see, you cannot identify an unhealthy relationship without realizing the unhealthy factors hidden behind love. 

The little girl loved her parents so much she was conformed to believing it was her duty to fix things.

The little boy was preyed upon for his lack of knowledge. He was not sure what love was and he thought this act meant she cared.

The young woman with the blood shot eyes cared so much about her boyfriend that she was willing to not only reevaluate herself, but also apologize for the behavior that was not hers.

The young man tied to the puppet master could not even realize he is being played through guilt trips to supply her with whatever she wants in an attempt to prove he cares.

If you ever come across a moment when you feel pressured, when you begin questioning yourself or your involvement with an individual, when you find yourself apologizing and blaming yourself for things you had no control over, or if you are ever finding yourself trying to validate your love… you need to take a deep breath and run.

Yes, it is hard and I know you care deeply, but to have a healthy relationship, you have to love yourself enough to realize when-

Enough 

Is 

Enough.