Love Came Too Early

He hates being late.

If there’s one thing he hates more than anything in the world, it’s being late. He hates being caught in the rush hour. He hates being the last one to clock in. He hates missing deadlines. He just hates it.

He likes the thought of being early though. So much so that sometimes I feel like, He came too early in my life.

He came when I wasn’t even in the fullest extent of my growth. When I was only evolving as a woman, and my character is still a work in progress. He came when I was still having difficulty loving myself completely.

He came when there was plenty of time I could’ve been more for myself. When there was so much room and opportunity for me to grow. When there’s so much more to discover in me, in my talent, in my skills.

He came when there were so many issues and struggles I have to overcome, so many barriers and strongholds I need to break free from.

He came when I couldn’t even love him right when I caused him to stumble and fall. When I don’t even know how to overcome my own demons and fight my own dragons. He came when I had no choice but to welcome him into my problems and bring him down with me.

I wasn’t ready. And because of that, maybe I wasn’t able to love him the way God would have wanted me to love him.

But he stayed.

Through it all, he stayed. And it wasn’t such a bad thing.

Because He allowed me to explore, he allowed me to discover plenty of new things about myself. He allowed me to be more, do more on my own, with his never-ending support.

He didn’t stop my self-actualization. He encouraged it. He didn’t stop my growth. He contributed to it. He didn’t confine me in a box, he allowed me to explore. He didn’t complain no matter how many times we stumbled, instead he assured me that we will overcome together. He didn’t burden me by the fact that I’m continuously changing, instead, he embraced who I was becoming. 

I’m not saying he’s my missing piece or that he completes me, no.

I was incomplete on my own. And I still am, because I know I am continuously evolving as a woman. I am continuously uncovering things about myself. I am continuously changing and bravely taking on big adventures to fulfill who I am called to be.

And he’s just there — supporting me in whatever I do.

That’s when it hit me, relationships shouldn’t stop you from being anything, achieving anything. In fact, it should make the journey easier.

I guess that’s the key responsibility of any relationship — may it be around your family, at work, with your friends or your significant other — is that it should make you a better version of yourself.

It should build you up, inspire you and empower you to be whoever you want to be.

It should highlight what needs to be improved, not to condemn you but to help you in your development. It should walk with you, in your struggles and in your victories. It shouldn’t keep you captive and pull you down. It shouldn’t stop you from achieving your individual goals. It shouldn’t be a burden. It shouldn’t destroy you or make your ideas feel insignificant. It should liberate you as you decide to be your real self, as you decide to be honest with who you are.

And it should complement you, in all the right ways. And I think that’s the beauty of relationships. It just, in its simplest form, empowers you to be the exact person you’re meant to be.

Love came too early, but I’m grateful he did.