When You Care For a Broken Man

Whatever it is, whatever happened to him, whatever he is going through, whatever haunts him and controls him- it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with me. Nothing- because it happened before I entered his life. Everything- because I want to fix him, or help him, or wonder why I am not enough, why can't I be the one to mend his broken heart. I have known all along that this is someone with a soul in pieces. Someone with little affection and stability to give me- yet I still try. Caring for a broken man is a journey. The only problem is there is no definite outcome of happiness and no guaranteed time frame of when (if ever) we will reach the other side. Because of this I tend to cling to hope and live in the future of "when" rather than addressing the reality of "it is". He will inevitably learn to love himself. But in the mean time, I will be his friend. I will help him find beauty in the darkness. I will show him what it means to have a "teammate". I will show him that he is still worth loving, even on his hardest days. And if it's right-if I am truly the one his heart wants- he'll come around when he's ready to love and be loved. I have learned that if you truly believe in a man, you can't sit around and wait for him to love himself. Instead, you just have to love YOURSELF. Everything else will work out the way it's supposed to. I will continue to care fiercely and love passionately, because that's all I know to do.