Love can last forever if you want it to by Susan Polis Schutz

Love is the strongest and
most fulfilling emotion possible
It lets you share
your goals, your desires, your experiences
It lets you share
your life with someone
It lets you be yourself
with someone who will always support you
It lets you speak
your innermost feelings to someone who understands you
It lets you feel tenderness and warmth -
a wholeness that avoids loneliness
Love lets you feel complete

But in order to have
a successful love relationship
you must make a strong commitment to each other and love
and you must do and feel everything within your mind and body
to make this commitment work

You must be happy with yourself
and you must understand yourself
before you can expect someone else
to be happy with you or to understand you
You must be honest about yourself and each other at all times
and not hold any feelings back
You must accept each other the way you are
and not try to change each other
You must be free to grow as individuals yet share your life as one
but not live your life through each other
You must follow your own principles and morals
and not follow what societal roles tell you to do
You must follow the philosophy that men and women are equal
and not treat either person with inferiority in any way

In order to have
a lasting love relationship
you must be together always in your heart
but not necessarily always in your activities
You must be proud of each other and love
and not be ashamed to show your sensitive feelings
You must treat every day spent with each other as special
and not take each other or your love for granted
You must spend time talking with each other every day
and not be too busy with outside events that you
are too tired for each other
You must understand each other's moods and feelings
and not hurt each other intentionally
but if your frustrations are taken out on each other
you must both realize that it is not a personal attack
You must be passionate with each other often
and not get into boring patterns
You must continue to have fun and excitement with each other
and not be afraid to try new things
You must always work at love and your love relationship
and not forget how important this relationship is or what
you would feel like without it

Love is the strongest
and most fulfilling emotion possible
If you live
your commitment to love
you will live your dreams
between awakenings

-Poem by Susan Polis Schutz
I'll love you forever