This week, I'm going to be writing about the beauty of MMA fighting. Okay, not quite, but wouldn't that have really shocked the masses? Now, relational fighting? Maybe that's a little more on track.
Relationships and friendships in any capacity are challenging. Maintaining valuable friendships and successful relationships is one of the hardest things in life. While I am SO far from a relationship expert (HA), I feel like I am sitting back and observing technology destroy the way we fight for one another.
When Noah left for the military, he wrote Allie every single day for a YEAR with no response. [The Notebook]
Despite a fatal cancer diagnosis, Landon spends years of his life helping Jamie cross items off of her bucket list despite the inevitable reality of her death. [A Walk to Remember]
The beast gives Belle an entire library filled with his greatest treasures simply because he wants to see her happy. [Beauty and the Beast, Duh]
I am keenly aware that real life was NOT written by Nicholas Sparks but there was a time when our lives resembled a romantic comedy movie much more than they do now. Don't believe me? Just talk to your parents, your parent's friends, your grandparents, even your older friends about the persistence of past generations. They may not execute their battles as eloquently as Mr. Sparks but the same message and effort are still there. They put in the work and the result remains beautiful. In many cases, these personal stories are the ones that melt your heart and give you goosebumps.
Flash-forward to 2020 and with an entire world in our pocket, why would we put in the effort to fight for our relationships, our family, our friends? There's always social media there to distract us, Netflix to entertain us and online dating to flatter us. Why would you stand in the cold and toss pebbles at a window when you can just DM someone on Instagram? Why would you take the time to write a sweet letter when you can send a text in 1/10th of the time? Why would you hold a family meeting when you can just fight it out on a family group chat?
So here we are, history's guinea pigs for impersonal relationships and while it's mere speculation, I'm terrified to see what it does to the rest of our lives. A higher divorce rate? More broken families? A lack of devotion to authentic friendships? A higher percentage of "ones that got away" than storybook romances? All these options seem more likely than ever.
So please please please, be willing to fight it out when you get into an argument with a friend. Be willing to stand out in the cold for someone you love even after they are the ones that did something wrong. Hold a family meeting to talk out your pain points and make a plan to make a real change before it's too late.
It is worth it. I promise you it's worth it. The only thing that feels better than being fought for, is knowing that you did everything in your power to fight for someone you love or care about.
