The word love may be the most misunderstood word ever created.
We confuse it with euphoria.
With newness.
With butterflies and dopamine.
The tremble in the chest.
The intoxication of discovery.
The touch that creates electricity like no other.
But that is only the beginning of love, not its depth.
Euphoria fades.
It always does.
Reality replaces the intoxication.
Comfort gives way to discomfort.
Certainty bends into uncertainty.
Two lives collide and minimalism becomes necessary, ego trimmed, expectations recalibrated.
Love is not the ceremony.
It is not the gifts.
It is not the highlight reel.
Love is commitment when the music stops.
It is staying when leaving would be easier.
It is choosing the same person when the feeling is no longer choosing for you.
It is multifaceted.
Complicated.
Hard.
And when all seems lost, love is knowing, without doubt, that this person is as committed to you as you are to them.
That yesterday’s euphoria has transformed into something solid.
Something built.
Something earned.
When the pedals fall, the roots are still strong.
A bond so deep that life without that person is not just lonely, it is unthinkable.
And when this life ends, you trust that somewhere beyond time and space, there is one soul waiting.
The only soul who knew you better than you knew yourself.
c 2026 Chu The Cud
All Rights Reserved
Chu The Cud 