Pre-Valentine's Day

Thank you. :)

My own list of how to know if a man is worth keeping:

• When he goes the extra mile for you, he is worth keeping.


• When he tells you he loves you and he's willing to change his old ways, he is worth keeping.


• When he spends every Saturday with you, he is worth keeping.


• When he always brings you to hang out with his friends, he is worth keeping.


• When he hugs you and kisses the top of your head before walking you to your door, he is worth keeping.


• When he tries to survive awkward moments hanging out with your friends that you have just introduced him to, he is worth keeping.


• When he hangs out at home with you just watching movies, watching WWE wrestling, playing with your dog, or cooking with you, he is worth keeping.


• When he thinks your geeky ways and weird habits are tolerable, he is worth keeping.


• When he tries to live through your mood swings, he is worth keeping.


• When he tries to stay calm even if you're already picking a fight, he is worth keeping.


• When he introduces you to his family (the ENTIRE CLAN!), he is worth keeping.


• When you wake up to cheesey or just random messages from him, he is worth keeping.


• When he willingly stays up with you on nights when you have to sleep late, he is worth keeping.


• When he spends time with your family and eats meals with them, he is worth keeping.


• When he's nice to your friends and to your family (including the dog!), he is worth keeping.


• When you do things together (road trips, food trips, etc.) that you haven't done before with anyone else in your past, he is worht keeping.


• When he tells you he loves you a few minutes after a fight, he is worth keeping.


• When he exerts extra effort in trying to change things that need to be changed, he is worth keeping.


• When he talks about spending the future with you and is no longer scared of doing so, he is worth keeping.


• When he holds your hand and you feel that your hands fit perfectly together, he is worth keeping.


• When you lean on his shoulder and you feel that there's no safer place than beside him, he is worth keeping.


• When you go through things together but patch things up after a short while, he is worth keeping.


• When he goes to church with you, he is worth keeping.


• When he makes you a better person, he is worth keeping.


• When he loves you for all that you are and doesn't try to change a thing (unless it's negative...), he is worth keeping.


• When he does things that you like to do (bookmark making, watching chick flicks, tagging along at bookstores while you go through shelves and shelves of books, etc.), he is worth keeping.


• When he goes the extra mile to help out family and friends even if it's just a little thing, he is worth keeping.


• When he tries his best to stay awake (even if he's really tired and sleepy) just to text you, he is worth keeping.


• When he drives a long way from his home to yours, he is worth keeping.


• When he stares at you and looks at you as if you're the most beautiful girl in the world, he is worth keeping.


• When he drops compliments every now and then to indulge your self-esteem, he is worth keeping.


• When he is protective of you, he is worth keeping.


• When he puts you first before his needs, he is worth keeping.


• When he says "I love you" out of the blue, he is worth keeping.


• When he takes your hand to hold it while the red traffic light turns on, he is worth keeping.


• When he eats half of your one cup rice even if he's already full himself, he is worth keeping.


• When he turns you into a mush when you were once a pessimistic about "love", he is worth keeping.


• When you find yourself being corny all the time and uttering sentimental words and really mean it, he is worth keeping.

The list can go on until forever. I'll probably update this when I'm not so sleepy.

When he changes your perception of "forever" and makes you believe that it exists, you find yourself wanting to believe that it exists too. Maybe "happily ever after" isn't just for fairytales, you'd like to believe. So you cling on to that hope that maybe there's a lifetime for you to spend together with he-who-is-worth-keeping. And you try to be the best that you can be even if it backfires and you end up being the worst you can be-- needy, selfish, demanding, or jealous. Maybe it's about having faith and enjoying what you have now. Forever can wait. If TODAY can work between two people, then FOREVER will definitely happen.

Maybe loving a person isn't about seeing what he isn't but rather appreciating what he is. Maybe it isn't about finding faults but appreciating the little things that he tries to change little by little. Maybe it isn't about pointing fingers and insisting who is right or wrong, maybe it's about compromising and admitting faults instead of denying them. Maybe it's about growing together and not GETTING ahead of the race. Afterall, it does take two to tango and just like family, in love OR any kind of relationship, NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND (Lilo and Stitch).