Measuring true love by pride - 2

There are couples whose love is solid and has passed the test of time, of hardship. They have survived crises and through it all their love continues to glow with an intensity that is obvious to everyone who knows them. People can feel the warmth of their love.

Persons in these loving relationships cannot stop talking about their loved one. It’s just too much to ask. They are very proud of their partner and words of praise just come pouring out time and time again. They are never jealous because they are so sure of each other, so secure in their love. They rejoice in each other’s success. No place for spousal competition in their relationship.

They revel in the opportunities for growth each has and they show full and sincere support. The honestly they believe are part of each other’s success. And the successful one makes sure the beloved participates in every happy moment because if simple love needs to share, intense love always shares intensely.

Couples whose love is failing or has grown stale do not experience this. They drift apart and feel the increasing weight of the relationship. Feel sorry sets in and they are not in the mood to brag about each other. What we notice with these couples is the lack of pride they have for each other when pride is justified. This is when the husband is out with his friends when she is giving birth. And she isn’t invited when he attends a big business dinner. Or, if she does go, she is relegated to a corner and ignored most of the night.

You can measure a partner’s love by the pride, the sincere pride that one has for the beloved. You have a gem and you want the world to know it and appreciate it.

Reference: Bob Garon

The Theme ….All Saints’ Day – 2

This also explains the apparent sturdiness of the Pilipino soul when confronted by perils and calamities. Though the typhoons and mudslides have inundated towns and cities in many places here, killing people in their paths, though terrorists have burned houses and people in the South, we pick up the pieces of our lives, and resume the dangerous business of living. Not that we are gluttons for punishment, but that we possess a surplus of patience.

Whereas in other countries such hardships might be cause enough for a major national upheaval, here we only blame ourselves, attributing our punishment to some unforeseen violation of divine regulations. After all, we are responsible for our actions, good or bad. Reaping what you sow, karma, “guhit ng palad” (palm lines) – we have many terms for their consequence, but we simply gloss over the causes. And all this, strangely enough, seems to work to our advantage. Divine Providence is a veil behind a veil which is difficult to penetrate. Wise men in their limited wisdom try to , and end up adding another veil to it. Is not acceptance, then better than interrogation? The acknowledgement of things as they are enables us to adjust our abilities and weaknesses to the realities at hand. This may not ennoble the spirit, but it will empower the body. In a manner of speaking, the poor derive strength from their poverty, deprived form their deprivation. The earlier they acknowledge that, the sooner their struggle for amelioration can begin. Instead of raging against an imagined cruel god, they will assess their chances of survival. Sure many of them will fail in the enterprises, but the few who will succeed will inspire others.