Does Love Still Exist?

As I look around me, it seems that many people are only in relationships with certain people just to fulfill their sexual desires. Which makes me wonder: does love even exist anymore?

We watch television shows such as Jersey Shore and Skins and instantly see how they promote this fantasy of instant attraction. Many people see this fairytale love as actuality, but “shockingly” it’s just not the case. This leaves me to believe that we as a society are more focused on having sex than finding true love.

Sex is not love. Love is a foundation that takes time to build upon. Love takes a commitment between you and your partner to be together through thick and thin, good and bad. It is not just one word; it is a word that is full of many. As the new generation, our main problem is that we spend too much time trying to have “quickies” with whoever is offering it. Studies show that the average relationship lasts 5-7 months before someone gets bored and decides to move on to the next one.

Back in the day, couples actually waited before having sex. Sexwasn’t as important as building up an actual relationship. Lovemeant compromising your own wants and desires to ensure that your partner was content and happy. Love affected the couples in the most positive way, where many of the activities performed were for the advancement of the relationship. And when the couple decided to “further their relationship,” it was a private sacred act between two people who actually loved and cared for each other immensely.

It saddens me that more than half our generation will never experience true love.

For the people who do find true love and end up getting married, statistics show that 60 percent of marriages between the ages of 20-25 end up in divorce. The main reason behind these staggering numbers is people’s unwillingness to compromise and remain dedicated to their partner. I do understand that people do change and couples do tend to grow apart over time. As a couple it is both people’s responsibility to make it work and try to keep the love growing stronger.

“True love, sadly, is a thing of the past,” said Sherell Johnson, a second year computer information systems student from Tallahassee. “People nowadays fall in love for all the wrong reasons. Instant attraction goes to the people with the most money and the best looks.”

Love is something that’s worth waiting for, searching for, and fighting for until you have finally found it. It is our duty to see to it that love never dies.