There is sooo much garbage on tv and in the movie making world. Poor values, broken families, sex, dishonesty, crudeness, hate, revenge....the list really could go on and on. Values that would have SHOCKED our grandparents and parents but to the world of today are just normal and the "way things are". These things should shock us to!! What a sadness that brings to true love. True love that everyone really desires and needs but is not taught, shown or emulated. True love. There is such a thing.
True love is honest, it's adoring, it is sacrificing, it is sincere, it is real, it is beautiful, it is happy, it is timeless...and so much more. I know that these values are the ones that lift a society, bring happiness to individuals, make couples stronger and fill homes with success. These are the romances we need. These are the stories media should want to embellish and portray.
Even though there is much garbage covering our beautiful world there are still books, movies, and lives that emulate the timeless and not forgotten truths of true love. I recently finished the series, "The Paradise" and was pleasantly surprised and pleased. In fact I fell in love with it :) and couldn't stop watching. This show is full of good values and teaches bits of what that true love is!!! It is by no means a perfect series and I'm sure some would go in and knit pick and rip it apart, throwing aside the goodness, but in my humble opinion this is a star amongst all the black clouds in media.
In "The Paradise" there are core values and principles taught that I believe encompass "true love". Now when I say "true love" I'm not talking fairy tale love or only of romance. True love basically is saying love that is true, real and good. Within this series here were a few true love messages I found;
- Sacrificing for the ones you love. Many of the characters portrayed this great and important principle. They learned that giving up or pausing or changing goals or dreams they might have had was more important than losing the love of someone they cared for a great deal.
- Being Honest. This is an enormously important aspect of true love. Telling someone the truth about your feelings and actions shows a trust and confidence in one another. Also, if that trust is broken, remedy it. Don't just throw in the towel and lose each other.
- Standing up for one another. When you see someone you love looking down or being treated poorly be their cheer team, be their stalwart companion. Don't allow others to demean or belittle those you love. And definitely don't do it yourself to them!
- Making each other's dreams a reality. When you know that there is something really really important to someone you love you strive to make that dream possible. You care about helping them shine!
- Learning together. Keeping your minds learning is so important and doing it together is even more. Letting your children see how important education and love of learning is, is crucial to society! If you don't love it and show it why would someone else?
- Working together. Oh how important this is in true love. Are you willing to work, sweat, penny pinch, and work along someone you love? You learn a great deal about each other and problem solving as you do this.
- Respect. Yep sing it, "R E S P E C T, find out what it means to me!" This goes both ways. Respect one another, your feelings, your thoughts, your bodies, your honor, everything about one another.
There were many important and beautiful messages taught in this mini series and it gave me hope that true love is out there in this world of ours. We are not big tv watchers and try and leave the screens off often in our home, but when I do choose to watch or listen I strive to look for the standards of true love in what I choose my mind to take in. Cause what you take in ultimately starts to become the values you internalize and emulate. So let true love triumph!! Turn off any garbage that comes on and choose to let true, good and lasting love enter your life and mind!!
