The word “forever” has tremendous implications, especially because most humans are incapable of fully understanding eternity. All that we know is finite, but the promise to love someone forever is infinite. Loving a person forever requires unconditional love, faith, acceptance, patience, and so much more.
Belief in forever
Promising to love a person forever is impossible if you don’t believe that this concept exists. The idea of eternal love is one reason why many people choose to have religious or spiritual wedding ceremonies. They want to express the fact that love survives physical death. The survival of consciousness—in other words, an afterlife—allows for the love to truly continue into eternity as opposed to reaching cessation when the death of the physical body occurs.
Acceptance of flaws
You may say that you understand your partner is a flawed human being, but that’s different from accepting the flaws. Learning to accept a person’s flaws means that you aren’t constantly pointing them out to him or her. It means that you truly do look past the flaws and allow the positive qualities of your love to rise above the negatives. Loving a person forever absolutely requires this acceptance of flaws because no human being is perfect. Expecting perfection in an eternal relationship is setting the bar rather high.
Promise of unconditional love
The idea of unconditional love is one that many people have a hard time with because it means that you love the person no matter what happens. This type of love is one that frequently exists between parent and child, but it does not always manifest in a romantic relationship. For example, if you have to ask yourself what you would do if your partner cheated on you: if you would still love him or her, then you may have unconditional love for this individual. Unconditional love is the type of love that it takes to make it through the barricades that arise in any relationship.
Shared interests
Not every quality that helps a relationship last forever is so abstract. In fact, you need to have concrete ways to take your relationship into eternity. If the two of you do not have shared interests, then you are eventually going to grow bored with each other. Maintaining separate hobbies, friendships and talents is good; you do not want to become one another. However, you should have activities in which you engage together. Perhaps you like wine tasting, painting, cooking or horseback riding. Also, as you spend eternity with this person, you will also like develop some similar hobbies as a couple.
Loving someone forever is a major commitment. When you promise to love a person forever, you are saying that you are giving your heart to him or her. You are also saying that you are willing to work through whatever stumbling blocks that come your way. Don’t expect your life together to be perfect. Instead, work as a team to make it the life that is perfect for the two of you.