Love, nowadays.

Imagine :

A cloudy day, a walk down a lane, hand in hand, giggling away at the man who stared at your way awkwardly, a pleasant breeze, a bench in one corner of an almost empty park, laughters and giggles, a cornetto being shared, stories narrated, more laughters, deep conversations, planning future, sharing dreams, making promises, handwritten letters sneaked, stares, stolen pecks and a memorable day.  

Boring and unromantic, isn't it?

Now, Imagine this :

A pleasant evening, car rides, dinner dates, check-ins, selfies, posed couple candids, getting drunk, having sex, expensive gifts (just for showoff among peers), Social-media romance, breakup-patch up.

Now, this sounds something exciting, right?

Somebody asked me the other day, is love materialistic? 

In all aspects, I replied. People prioritize looks over personality, gifts over time, money over character, and they say they're in love. Being in love nowadays means going out on dinner dates, shopping with partner on their money, expensive gifts - letters and cards don't even count, and sex or intimacy. Girls look for rich boyfriends to provide them with luxuries, guys consider gifting expensive gifts as a way of impressing them, and it does!   I know, everybody has a different opinion about love but when in a relationship gifts and showoff stuff are valued way more than feelings, I'm forced to say, Yes, love is materialistic.

Love used to be defined as a beautiful and magical feeling. Nowadays couples express it in terms of the number of PDA's. They boast about the number of pictures they click together and how they kissed each other in public. Love has lost it's essence over time - the butterflies, the laughters, the shy smiles, the blushing when they're around - its lost. What remains is the Infatuated version of love where feelings hardly hold any importance.

Yes, this is love nowadays.   

Do you know why relationships don't last? Because people love with conditions and demands now.

Love unconditionally - love without any conditions, expectations, demands, or anything which could restrict it. Unconditional love really means, "I love you no matter what happens,". It means UNDER ANY CONDITION life throws at us. I promise not to scream at you because I'm having a bad day. I promise not to look for love elsewhere if you are.

In most relationships in todays generation, one partner has to meet the demands of the other, make them happy and understand them. One partner keeps expecting while the other partner is overwhelmed by the unending emotional demands of the other. Sometimes, this may play both ways. Lasting relationships require unconditional love - when you love a person in their true essence. In unconditional love, the partners compromise, make adjustments, communicate openly and trust willingly. This builds the foundation of a strong relationship. This makes a relationship last.

So fall in love again, but this time without conditions and without materialism.