I got to thinking about romance. What constitutes a romantic gesture? Buying your significant other roses? Chocolate? Flying across the country to see them? Personally, I’m partial to all. But I’m not really the type to be romantic. I would call myself a realist, certainly not a hopeless romantic. But you wouldn’t ever get that from my writing. I’m currently writing a love triangle and it’s simply divine. The romance is clear-cut and full of fireworks. Writing just makes all of that easier to say, more contained and special. Since I consider myself a realist, romance can be an awkward thing. But what I’ve discovered in the past four years: romance can be brought out in anyone with the right person. And romance doesn’t have to be a public display of affection. Romance can be eloquent, unequivocal love letters. Remember that.

I got to thinking about plans. There are those of us who plan everything in advance, from our meal on Thursday night to our vacation in Bora Bora for Christmas. Then, there are those of us who don’t plan past 5 o’clock. I will attest to being the former. I love plans. I like to know what I’m doing the next day or the next week. This isn’t because I need total control; well, maybe a little bit. But I enjoy having plans because then I have something to look forward to.

One of my new favorite things is to sit outside at my local Starbucks and simply read and read until my heart is content. I make a plan for this two or three times per week. And I look forward to it. There’s nothing wrong with setting a plan occasionally. When we do, we’ll realize the finer things in life. That’s really what life is about, right?

I got to thinking about pride. We all have it. But the question is: what’s the fine line between pride and stubbornness? In my experience, the line is so fine that we can’t always tell the difference. Pride can get in the way of things. Pride allows us to forgo apologies; pride helps us stick to our guns, even if we aren’t always right. All in all, pride is merely a tactic for those who won’t admit when they’re wrong. And let’s face it: we can’t always be right. But we can step away from our pride for just a moment each day. If we do this, we can unlock the door to owning up to our mistakes. And if we do that, there’s nothing we can’t do.

I got to thinking about missed opportunity. If we’re lucky, we’re presented with options. Sometimes our dreams come in different shapes and sizes. Sometimes we have to choose. This missed opportunity is based on our choices. We could’ve done that, we should’ve done this, why didn’t we choose that? And sometimes this missed opportunity makes us full of regret, leaving us to feel bitter and angry. But we shouldn’t feel angry. We chose based on what we felt, or needed to do, in the moment. We cannot regret that. Also, we should remember that getting a choice is the luckiest thing we’ll ever get. There’s no missed opportunity in that.

I got to thinking about love. Love makes us better, loves makes us stronger, and love lets us forgive. There is nothing grander than love. Love is so much more than love. Love is unconditional friendship. You know you’re in love with someone when their face won’t leave your thoughts, when everything you see reminds you of them, when there’s not a day that goes by in which you are incredibly grateful to have found them, but terrified that it’ll all go away in an instant. We must always remember to love those we hold dear to our hearts with a sense of friendship. There is no love without friendship. Friendship and love go hand in hand, because, what is love without a little laughter?

I got to thinking about goodbyes. Sometimes it’s not a ‘see you later.’ Sometimes we must say goodbye, and that’s that. I used to not watch new TV shows just because I knew that one day they would come to an end and I would have to say goodbye. Then I realized that was how I lived my whole life; not having experiences and being afraid to say goodbye. I struggled in relationships, friendships, and everything else because of this. But then I learned that it is okay to say goodbye. It may be awful at the time, but time heals all goodbyes.

I got to thinking about doing things alone. You know, going to the grocery store, parallel parking, seeing a movie in theatres, going out for dinner. We never seem to realize how different things are alone. What fun is it to go to the grocery store without a friend? But we must adapt. We must come to understand that we can’t always have a companion for life’s everyday tasks. While that’s ideal, it’s far from reality. It’s just the adjustment period of becoming an adult. Not the kind of adult who turns eighteen in high school and now has voting rights. This is the kind of adult who lives his or her own life. And that’s the scariest thing of all.

I got to thinking about… if you were here beside me. I would tell you that I’ve missed you; I would tell you that every stupid fight we’ve had doesn’t matter. We are invincible. The long nights without your soothing voice, well, it’s driving me mad. I miss it all. I miss seeing your handsome, perfect face. And I don’t expect this sadness to subside without a fight. I’ve come to realize that I’m simply lost without you. I don’t need you; I want you. I want you to be near me. Always. The decision you made as a teenager changed my life; we got to be near each other. Always. In the words of Gary Lightbody: “the curve of you was curved on me.” Forever and always.

I got to thinking about loneliness. How do we fathom life without company? How do we get through the day without having a meaningful conversation with those we love? How can we shake this lonely feeling? I’m not sure there’s a way to get rid of loneliness. I believe loneliness cannot be cured; however, it can be altered. We can alter the way we feel. We can fill the gaps of time with things we love: reading, writing, watching television, exercising. Though we cannot cure our loneliness, we can make sure to fill our time wisely, to not dwell on those things we cannot have in that moment. For time will give us what we want. We must be patient with our loneliness, and realize that it will slowly subside.

I got to thinking about taking people for granted. Why do we do this? Do we think we can get someone better, even though the best people for us are right in front of our eyes? Why are we so bold and disrespectful? I think that sometimes we take people we love for granted because we know they’ll always be there for us. But will they? They could walk away at any moment, and for good reason, if we push them away so much. Taking the ones we love for granted doesn’t make things better, it doesn’t get us what we want. We are just too blind to see that sometimes the best people for us are standing by our sides. These are the people who won’t run away; these are the people to keep. Don’t take them for granted, not even for a second.