Last night, I had a conversation with a friend about relationships.  He said that my ideas on relationships are not quantifiable, not rational, not reality.  I told him that love and relationships are not rational.

I know that “reality” isn’t like the movies.  If it were, all men would be tall, dark and handsome.  All women would be demure, skinny and blonde.  There would be very few grey areas…there would be good guys and bad guys, people riding off into the sunset to their future. 

Relationships certainly are not like they are portrayed in the movies.  Sure, there are romantic stories.  My parents met on a blind date, got “engaged” two weeks later, married two weeks after that.  They’ve been married for nearly 35 years.  However, there are more stories of people who dated for a long time, did all of the “right” things, and got divorced.  Relationships are not all candy and flowers; there are bodily functions, interpersonal conflicts, disillusionment, forces outside of the relationship working against (and for) the couple. 

All of this said, I can’t help but believe in romance.  I can’t help but to believe that somehow, you just know when the person that you are dating, interested in, is the person.  It may not happen in the form of love at first sight.  I think that most of that would be more aptly labeled lust at first sight.