what's the rush?

photo from tumblr.

as i sung love songs that did not tell my stories--because i had none to tell--a revelation fell upon me like the apple did on the frustrated scientist. i had yearned for scenes that would belong to my very own real-life chick flick: the laughter, the hands-holding, the forehead kisses, the movies together, the snuggling, the sleeping in bed all day and doing nothing, the IKEA dates. it was true: i was looking at a relationship, desiring it, only for the good bits.

but here is the revelation: what's the rush?

we live in a microwave world where everything must be heated up within 30 seconds and ready to go, ready to be eaten, expected to supply all the nutrients any other food would. we live in a microwave world where everything has a timer to it: the peak of your career, the climax of your college life, the expiry date of your singleness. everything. and to be honest, i'm sick of it.

i can't believe it took me this long to realize it, but i'm sick of the expiry date labels society decides to stick on each and every one of us, telling us when it is appropriate to get a job, date, get married, have children, retire, have grandchildren, and die.

the facts are these: we yearn to get that partner, that special someone in life, because we're at the appropriate age to do it. because other people are doing it and you're not, and they're your age, and it's appropriate. screw appropriate. as much as these things act as a sort of guide to everyone, we don't need to follow it. God has amazing plans for each and every single one of us, and if every plan worked out the same way, in the same timings, it would not be the beautiful, chaotic world that we live in. face it: some people bloom later than the rest, and some earlier than most. some live a short life and some don't--it doesn't mean one is less glorious than the other.

singleness is almost never praised upon. as much as we try to tell ourselves or the people around us that it is okay to be single, all of us secretly worship the idea of being with someone. to find that someone who thinks you're as special as them, who wants to love you as much as they love themselves. how is that not an attractive concept?

but let me tell you this: you are a glorious concept. you, working your way through your destiny--the half-written book that God has prepared for you; you, a beautiful mess, as much as you would hate to think yourself to be one; you, a being created not solely to find your other half, but a being created to create, to inspire, to love. you are a glorious concept.

i'll be honest with you. i yearn for it, that perfect disaster of a man, waiting to happen. the chick-flick that belongs to me, the story that i can tell, the love song that i can sing, one day. but i'm not going to let this yearning ruin whatever else i have in mind now for the world. there's no rush to it, i remind myself. there's only you, and God, and whatever else in between that can happen.

if it happens, it happens.
if it doesn't, other things are still happening.

don't rush your way through this, surrendering your heart to someone who only wants to see how high they can throw it in the sky before it shrivels up in mid-air.