When You Love Someone, You Hurt When They Hurt

When you love someone, it hurts to see them suffering. The worst feeling in the world is knowing they are not okay. If they start crying in front of you, you don’t become flustered and leave the room to avoid confrontation. You don’t run the other way to save yourself the drama. You don’t act like their emotions are a burden to you.

You sit with them and talk things through. You hold them close while they sob. You let them know that, no matter what, you will always be there for them. You convince them it will be okay again — and if they don’t believe you, you at least convince them that there is someone who loves them and will stay by their side every step of the way.

When you love someone, you hate yourself when you’re the reason for their tears. You hate yourself for causing them even the smallest amount of pain. Whenever you aren’t on speaking terms, you are sick to your stomach. You are unable to deal with the fact you are the reason for their distress when you only want to be the reason for their smile.

When you love someone, you get defensive when it comes to them. If someone hurts you, that is okay. You will deal with it. You are used to the disappointment. But if someone hurts the person you love? You will become enraged. Your teeth will come out. You will fight to the death.

You won’t let anyone hurt the person you love. Even though you know they can handle themselves, you are protective of them. You won’t let anyone treat them with disrespect. You can’t stand to see them unhappy. You won’t let them be abused. You care more about the way other people treat your person than the way they treat you.

When you love someone, you aren’t in direct competition with them. You aren’t secretly hoping they will get fired from their job or have plans canceled by their friends, because you want what’s best for them. You are excited when they get a promotion. You are happy for them when they have a night off from work. You get excited that they have a life of their own because they deserve it.

When you love someone, you hurt when they hurt. Seeing them in tears brings you close to tears. Seeing them angry makes you angry. Seeing them happy makes you happy. Your emotions are tied together. Your mood depends on whether they are having a rough time or not.

When you love someone, you don’t just say you care about them. You mean it. When they are upset, you have trouble falling asleep at night because you’re trying to find an answer to their problems. Because it’s not fair that someone so incredible is dealing with something so horrible.

When you love someone, you want them to be happy. You care about them as much as you care about yourself — maybe even more.