Saying goodbye doesn't mean forgetting the person you've loved before. It's the relationship, memories and hope that you should let go. Goodbye doesn't mean it's the end of the world. But instead it's a new beginning. New challenges that's full of hope. As if like you're looking on the other phase of your life.

Remember... Life is wonderful and full of challenges and opportunities. The only thing you should do is how, when and where a decision must come up. Don't let the memories stop you from seeing the sunshine again. Just don't live your life to the shadow of your past. Try to see the horizon of the future and you'll discover the Wonder of Life.

How does one say goodbye to someone he/she has begun to love and care about, without the inflict pain? How do we show a person that goodbye doesn't mean abandoning her/him? That it only means we have to let go of a relationship if things don't work out any better anymore. I guess there's really no easy way.

Goodbye seems a concluding remark we have to speak when we leave someone behind. It sounds so final. And yet it is a heart-breaking reality we have to face somehow, someday no matter how dreadful it may be.

Letting go of those we deeply love and care about, for whatever reason often leaves as helplessly shattered. But on the otherhand, clinging pointlessly to what has been. Memories or relationships... usually isn't very good for us in the end. But learning to have the courage to let go is a sign of GROWTH. It is an indication that we are mature enough to know what we can do without and that we are ready to make room for what we really need in our next phase of our life.

Goodbye is a sad thing, but it is very real. We have to face the fact that we all have to say goodbye sometime in our lives and there's no easy way of saying it. That is why people often take off when they least expect it. They just walk away because they can't figure a way of saying goodbye.

Some people think that it's holding on that make us strong; sometimes it's letting go.

Yes, there's no doubt about it... parting gives us a lot of sorrow, especially if it is forever. But then goodbye is really just another way of saying Hello. We move on and on. Goodbye may mean a lot more Hello's. So we have to let go and we should know when to finally end up.

A chapter in our life to be able to give way for a new one.

But really, these are just other ways of saying I love you. You are important to me. I care what happens to you. I don't want you to get hurt. We are sometimes very strange people. The only thing we want to say, and the one thing that we should say, is the one thing we don't say. And yet because the feeling is so real, and the need to say it is so strong, we are driven to use other words and signs to say what we really mean. And many times the meaning never gets communicated at all and the other person is left feeling unloved and unwanted.

Therefore, we have to LISTEN FOR LOVE in the words that people are saying to us. Sometimes the explicit words are necessary, but more often, the manner of saying things is even more important. A joyous insult carries more affection and love within the sentiments which are expressed insincerely. An impulsive hug says I LOVE YOU even though the words might be saying very different.

Any expression of a person"s concern for another says? I love you. Sometimes the expression is clumsy, sometimes even cruel. Sometimes we must look and listen very intently for the love that contains. But it is often there, beneath the surface. A mother may nag her son constantly about his grades or cleaning his room. The son may hear only the nagging, but if he listens carefully. he will hear the love underneath the nagging. His mother wants him to do well, to be successful. Her concern and love for her son unfortunately emerge in her nagging. But it is love all the same.

A daughter comes home late, way past her curfew, and her father confronts her with angry words. The daughter may hear only the anger, but is she listens carefully, she will hear the love under the anger. I was worried about you, the father is saying. Because I care about you and I love you. You are important to me.

We say I love you in many ways- with birthday gifts, and little notes, with smiles and sometimes with tears. Sometimes we show our love by just keeping quiet and not saying a word, at other times by speaking out, even brusquely. We show our love sometimes by impulsiveness. Many times we have to show our love by forgiving someone who has not listened to the love we have tried to express.

The problem is listening for love is that we don't always understand the language of love which the other person is using. A girl may use tears or emotions to say what she wants to say, and her boyfriend may not understand her because he expects her to be talking his language.

Thus, we have to force ourselves to really listen for love. The problem with our world is that people rarely listen to each other. They hear the words, but they don't listen to the actions that accompany the words or the expression on the face. Or people listen only for rejection or misunderstanding. They do not see the love that is there just beneath the surface, even if the words are angry.

Simon and Garfunkel wrote that very haunting song, The sound of silence. It goes: "ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking; people hearing without listening; people writing songs that voices never shared, because no one dared disturb the sound of silence..." It is a terrifying picture of our modern world, a world without communication and without love. We have to listen for love in those around us. If we listen intently we will discover that we are a lot more loved than we realize.Listen for love and we will find that the world is a very loving place, after all.
-Fr. Joseph A.

Once we feel love, we find no way to control its selfish desires even if it means hurting the one closest person to you. There are no guarantees when it comes to love. Love is like that, we don't control it, we can only deny or accept it when it's there and the only way we can measure love is by looking deep down inside our hearts, then we'll know how much and for how long.

Most of us have the ideal concept of what a perfect relationship is and when we dive towards this relationship, we get frustrated because our expectations may never be met. But true love doesn't expect anything in return. If we only try to be open-minded and understand that we give love not to gain favor but it is something we share to someone special because giving it makes us happy.

It is easy to say "I love you" or "I need you" and other flowery words that will linger to the very core of our hearts, the thing is, can we take the responsibility and commitment for our promises? Why do people say I love you but in reality they don't really understand what is love and how to love.

It is very painful to learn that someone you really love have someone else besides you! They will make you fall in love completely and devotedly but later on they will leave you hangin' and in despair, these are the people who never care at all. I pity those kind of people, they have a serious problem with themselves. All of us at one time in our lives have been hurt by those whom we have loved and trusted, they leave us painfully shattered into pieces, but only when we recognize why love fades away, can we truly understand the reason why we get hurt.

There are times in our lives that we must experience to live in pain, a time when it's hard to forget and it hurts to remember. There is nothing wrong in holding on to the memories of the person we once loved. They are all part of us. But engaging in a relationship and at the same time living in the past is unfair. Yesterday must never keep us from today's reality. We can never forget those whom we have loved. Those people that gave us something to feel for and brings us the brilliance within ourselves. People who made our lives meaningful and special inside and out. A life worth living for. But only when we learn to accept the reasons why they have gone, can we truly put the past where it belongs. Besides, we did our part, we gave them our best, if they refused it, it is their loss not ours.

You're not the only one to feel disappointed by love. It happens to everyone--all of us--beautiful or not, rich or poor, wise or naive. We all deserve someone, and mysteriously that certain someone makes him or herself known to us--not always when we need them most but for sure they will be there. Change is the one constant thing in life--there will be a time for love and a time for emptiness. No one is exempted from being left behind, still, no one has to be left behind forever. There's always room for love in your life with an extra bed for the unexpected guest, sure as love comes from the most unexpected places where you are the one to figure out where the heck in the universe are these located! Love comes...love goes, like a journey... Love is like that, full of mystery, full of mischief, that's why when love takes over, miracles can happen especially if True love prevails...