It’s a scary thin line, the one between love and control
But the people who have learned to walk it well are those who understand the phrase “If you love something, you’ll let it go.”
I can hardly think of something more powerful than someone deciding to love another enough to refrain from manipulating their choices
Even though it seems like life would be so much easier if I could blend everyone’s voices
If I could take away your opinions, and make them mine
If we could stop being tree branches and instead be one vine
It’s so tempting to think our lives and relationships could be perfect “If”
… and only if
If only we could make the other see what I see
If only you were a lot less you and became a lot more me
What if we had the same standards for what it meant to live a good life What if we had the same beliefs about the ways to handle strife?
It’s so each to think “If only I could control you, you’d be easier to love.”
… but who’s the real monster then? If your hugs are secretly a shove?
Just as birds let their babies leave their nests,
Just as seasons change and we rearrange our lives to try to do what’s best.
Though there’s the part of me that aches to manipulate
I know the truest love rests and waits.
So I’ll wait for you to find answers to questions I’ve already asked
& trust you to make the best choices you can even if they do not last.
& I’ll trust that the beauty in diversity is real and true
& Yeah, you could probably learn some things from me but I could certainly learn from you.
I’ll set aside my defenses and my offenses too—
All the forms of attack that look like me trying to control you.
Instead I’ll surrender to real love which takes much more strength
By staying strong in who I am, while letting you pave your own way.
lovinglifeasemma.com 