The next time I have the urge to speak negatively
or rudely to you, I’ll swallow and be silent.
Loving you doesn’t give me license for rudeness.
If I can’t be generous and supportive, I’ll at least
try not to stand in your way.
Loving you means wanting you to grow.
I won’t put my problems onto you. You have
enough problems, I’m certain, and you don’t need mine.
My love should simplify your life, not complicate it.
I don’t always have to be right. I can accept
the fact that you are right as often as I am.
Loving is sharing with each other.
If I already know I’m right, all the time,
I’ll never profit from your insight.
I don’t always have to be running the show.
Loving is an ebb and flow.
Sometimes I’ll need to give in.
And at other times I’ll need to take control.
I don’t have to be perfect, nor do you.
Love is a celebration of our humanness, not our perfection.
I can give up wanting to change you. If I want
you in my life, the best thing for the both of us is for me
to accept you as you are.
After all, love is moving forward together in mutual growth.
I don’t need to place blame. Since I’m an adult
who makes decisions based up personal experience,
there is no one to blame for a poor decision except myself.
Love puts the responsibility where it belongs.
I can give up expectations. To wish one thing,
to expect is another. One brings hope, the other can
bring pain. Love is free of expectations.
By Leo Buscaglia
