Have you ever seen a grown-up looking at their phone and laughing? They are probably looking at something called a meme. A meme is merely a amusing picture with some words on it. People send them to their friends to make them smile.
There is a very special kind of funny picture on the internet. It is called romantic love memes. These are pictures about how boys and girls, or moms and dads, like each other. Romantic love memes usually show people holding hands, giving each other flowers, or being very happy.
They look very nice. But I want to tell you a big secret. Romantic love memes are just pictures. They are not real life.
A long time ago, I used to look at a lot of romantic love memes on my phone. I would see these pretty pictures and think, “I want that!” I wanted a best friend to love me just like in the pictures. I was tired of being by myself. I felt sad that all my other friends had someone, but I did not.
I thought I was ready to find a boyfriend. I went on dates. A date is when two people go out to get ice cream or dinner to see if they want to be friends. But my dates kept going wrong. I did not know why.
I thought I was a good person. But looking back, I know I was not ready. I was looking at too many romantic love memes, and I thought love was supposed to be easy like a picture. I did not know who I was. I did not know what kind of person would make me happy. I was lost.
Then, I made a big choice. I stopped looking at my phone. I stopped looking for a boy to like me. I decided to work on myself first. I wanted to be the best “me” I could be. I learned how to be happy when I was all alone. I learned how to be a good friend. And guess what? When I stopped looking at romantic love memes and started being a better person, I met my husband! Now we are married and very happy.
Now, my job is to help other grown-ups find love. And I tell them to stop looking at romantic love memes. I tell them they have to do some hard work first. If you want a good friend or a good husband or wife when you grow up, here are the things you have to do.
- You have to look at your bad feelings.
This is very hard to do. Everybody has bad feelings inside them. Sometimes we feel mad. Sometimes we feel scared that someone will not like us. Sometimes we do not want to share our toys.
When you are a little kid, you might yell or cry when you feel this way. But when you are a big grown-up, you have to learn about your bad feelings. You cannot hide them. You cannot pretend they are not there. You have to say, “Wow, I am feeling very mad right now. Why am I mad?”
Romantic love memes never show people being mad. They only show people smiling. But real people get mad and sad! If you do not learn how to handle being mad, you will be mean to your friends. You have to learn how to be nice, even when you feel bad inside. That is the first step to finding real love.
- You have to tell the truth about who you are.
Sometimes, kids pretend to like a game just so other kids will play with them. They pretend to be someone they are not. Grown-ups do this too. They go on dates and pretend to be perfect. They think if they act perfect, the other person will like them.
But that is a bad idea. That is not being real. Being real means you do not hide. If you like eating pizza with pickles on it, you should say so! If you are scared of the dark, you can say so! If you make a mistake, you say, “I am sorry I did that.”
You do not need to be perfect. Romantic love memes make people think they have to be perfect to be loved. But that is a lie. You have to be you. The right friend will like you just the way you are, even if you are a little bit silly or weird.
- You have to know that real life is not a funny picture.
This is the biggest secret of all. Romantic love memes look like a fairy tale. They look like magic. They make it look like finding love is very easy and fun all the time. But real life is not a fairy tale.
Real love is not a funny picture on a phone. Real love is doing chores together. Real love is going to the grocery store to buy milk. Real love is sitting on the couch when you are very tired. Real love is helping someone when they are sick.
It is not always exciting. It is not always a big party. Most of the time, real love is very quiet and very normal. And that is okay! Quiet and normal is very good. But if you keep looking at romantic love memes, you will think something is wrong when life gets quiet. You have to learn to love the quiet, boring days just as much as the fun days.
Being the Best You
So, what is the big lesson? If you want to find a wonderful friend or a wonderful husband or wife when you grow up, do not worry about looking at romantic love memes. Do not wish for a fake picture to come true.
Look at yourself instead.
Are you being kind? Are you sharing? Are you telling the truth? Are you learning how to be happy just playing by yourself? If you can do these things, you are doing a great job. You do not need to look for the right person. You need to be the right person.
When you are really, really good, you will be ready. And one day, the right person will come along and love you for exactly who you are. And that is way better than any picture on the internet.
