Teenage romance, dancing in the rain, promposals, promise rings, and first date nerves. Getting the butterfly feeling people get in their stomach and holding on tight to a hand one never wants to let go of. A love that some are lucky enough to experience. But as the years go on, individuals realize that this is hard to come by. No matter how hard they try, many teenagers go through high school without finding what they’re looking for. Non-committal situationships have become so popular in this environment. The reasons can be that some are trying to keep their options open, fear of commitment, or even people wanting the fun part of a relationship without the work. 

     So many people are worried about having the picture-perfect experience that they don’t take the chance to slow down and take their time. They rush in, thinking they will automatically get exactly what they want, not realizing that relationships take actual work. So once people see that they have to fight for what they have, they try to take the easy way out and start acting differently, using people for what they get and expecting them to be okay when it ends up not working. A lot of the time, one could hear the excuse of not being ready to commit, or the fear of it. But why would someone knowingly start something that they can’t follow through with, especially if they know the other person is looking for something serious?

      This can be so hurtful for people who are trying to work on the relationship; it can be mentally draining and can change people’s standards. Sometimes people can get dragged along in a situation for weeks, even months, not knowing how to get out. There will always be hopeful people who get hurt by waiting around for the partner they know they want more than anyone else. In the song “Grave” by Tate McRae, she said, “I could never make you want me like I wanted to be wanted.” Sometimes people don’t get treated right, and you just can’t change that. One can try as hard as they can to change the person they “have” to be with, but it’s not worth the pain in the long run. If they wanted to, they would.

     There’s always going to be “other fish in the sea,” but sometimes people can be blind to seeing past the one they want, even if there’s sunshine beyond them. People get stuck loving the darkness and using their hopes as the moon and stars, only lighting up the person they can’t have. When you are lost there for so long, it can be hard to ever trust someone again, believing that they have to work harder to be loved because that’s what happens, you forget that love can be easy, it doesn’t always have to be a fight for attention or a game for affection, it can be true and simple. Keep hope, try and find that teenage romance, hold on to your standards, and never let someone lower them. Find someone who won’t hold you back but will lift you up. Because, as French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “Real love begins where nothing is expected in return.”