Genuine Love?

"Dear Lyna,

How do you know if you’re loving someone for who they are and not who you hope they will become?"

Loving someone means accepting the full spectrum of who they are—not just their light but also their shadows. It’s easy to fall for the potential of a person, the version of them we could only imagine them to be. But real love exists in the here and the now…in the daily practice of seeing them—as they are, flaws and all—and choosing them anyway.

Ask yourself: if nothing changed, if growth never came, could I still love this person fully?

If the answer is yes, that’s the foundation of something true.