Sometimes, going through so much adversity together can be tiring. Frequently, it can be more than downright exhausting. And there will be so many times either side would want to give up, simply out of sheer weariness, or because of fear, because of pain, because of past ghosts of memories haunting the present.

But, after knowing what's going through in the relationship with a long-sundered acquaintance, I found myself being thankful for the adversities we've gone through. Or, maybe I should say: I found myself being thankful for the lessons we learnt; more speficially, I learnt.

It took the hardships (long discussions and fears about religions; talking about our past wounds; dealing with present stresses and demands by ourselves and by others; tight tempers and frayed nerves...you get the idea) to build up a certain level of trust, of knowing that when things go wrong, one can count on the other as much as possible.

It takes a certain level of trust in the other not to possess him, nor smother him, or deny him his freedom. And the trust came by fighting on, by falling down, either one or the other or both, by forgiving again and again.

Lessons learnt.

Love and a relationship is like a venn diagram: two separate circles, A and B, overlapping only at a certain area of similarity and a *choice* to share.

A relationship is a choice of both parties to share a part of their lives with another. One does not belong to the other; there is no possession, only a conscious decision to stay, to remain.