Is true romance in relationships is subtle, not flashy

When you consider how much importance today’s self-centered society attributes to independence and promiscuousness, you can understand why some people might think that old-fashioned romance just doesn’t exist in relationships anymore. The airwaves and the Internet are filled with examples of people shunning monogamous relationships and romance for self-gratification and indulgence, and romantic couples are usually presented as silly and out-of touch.

Luckily, however, true romance really does still exist out there. It’s tough to point out old-fashioned romantics not because they are on the decline, but because old-fashioned romance by its nature is really the opposite of flashy; romance is quiet, romance is patient, and romance is subtle. If someone goes out of their way to show the world how romantic their relationship is, it’s usually not real romance they’re trying to promote at all.

The flashy, shallow stuff may get the air time, but there are millions and millions of couples across the world who are dedicated to each other and who keep romance alive in their relationships in quiet, understated ways every day.

What is true romance? True romance isn’t buying your lover a truckload of flowers and presenting them live on television for the world to see; it’s giving your lover a single rose every week for the rest of your life. True romance isn’t declaring your infatuation for someone in front of an audience of millions; it’s being there for that special person every day, no matter how hard things get, and regardless of how many people know you’re doing it.

Once romantic gestures become widely publicized, they just aren’t as romantic anymore. You can be sure that every day, a million romantic stories play out in a million different places across the world. You’ll never know about the vast majority of them . . . and that’s part of what makes them so romantic! If you’re truly in love with someone, just making them happy in unique and romantic ways is a reward in itself.

So the next time you see an elderly husband and wife walking hand-in-hand in the park, or an adoring boyfriend holding the door for his smiling girlfriend, remember: that is what true romance is, not the over-the-top, flashy stuff you see on television.

A few huge gestures don’t make a person’s life romantic. What makes a romantic life is an endless series of subtle, simple, thoughtful acts of love.