Love is more than just an emotion, but rather an emotion that most everyone has felt at least one time in their lives. Love can blind-side a person to zone out the other person’s habits. It can even cloud a person’s actions. It’s an amazing feeling to walk on clouds, but the reality too often than not, is the heartbreak that can happen once two people are together for a period of time. It’s often the same as having a locket and finding its secret key.

Sometimes it’s maturity. Other times it may be distance or life’s responsibilities that can put a toll on a relationship. The fact is that love can hurt and for many that hurt doesn’t disappear into the air. Hurt doesn’t go away overnight. I see this happening a lot in people I know and I hear from people that I meet in shopping centers and restaurants. It seems we all have that one lost love that haunts our choices for the next relationship. Take for example Katie. Katie is now a 40-year old woman who has never been married. However, back in her late 20s she had met a guy who had just got out of the military, Ben. For months, Ben and Katie had done everything together. Unfortunately after a year Katie broke up with her boyfriend.

Keeping all of their pictures, instead of the usual process of hiding or throwing them away so not to be reminded of the hurt, Katie didn’t find it hard to move on. Months later she had met other people and new relationships had developed. Sure she had a few serious relationships after Ben. She went out many different guys. However, as time lingered on I noticed that she was unconsciously drawn to the blonde hair and blue eyes that matched the same features as Ben. When I asked her about it she had no idea what I was talking about. It took Katie over twelve years for her to admit today that this new guy that she had been interested in had the same looks and even name as her ex-boyfriend. I started to think about how love really works.

Do we really ever get past those traits in a person that blinded us? We each have preferences, but without noticing, do we look to match each relationship after that one major heartfelt goodbye. That one person that steals our hearts away are we ever quite the same again without even noticing it or our unwillingness to admit it. I believe the saying about love and trust is true when it comes to matters of the heart. Love is elastic and trust is brittle. Sometimes if we are to get past the emotions that Katie had felt we have to not only be in touch with our minds, but our hearts as well. It’s the secret key to answering life’s mysteries on love.