Is love indeed blind?
Love, in simple terms, can be described as an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment towards a person or thing. It brings two people from different backgrounds, cultures and religions together as one. It is no doubt a beautiful thing that keeps the world moving. However, would you ignore certain things in a […]
Love, in simple terms, can be described as an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment towards a person or thing. It brings two people from different backgrounds, cultures and religions together as one. It is no doubt a beautiful thing that keeps the world moving. However, would you ignore certain things in a relationship just because you are in love? Some people claim that love is blind and therefore one can do anything for it while others argue to the contrary.
Evelyn Garba, a graduate in her mid-twenties, says she believes that love is indeed blind and that there is nothing wrong with that. “I’m talking out of experience because I fell in love with a guy I dated for years and we were even planning to get married before things got worse and we broke up. Truth be told, the guy is not good looking to the extent that now I sit and wonder if I really loved him. My family and friends kept pointing out his looks to me but I was blinded by love then. It made me realise that when one is in love, a person can go to any point and can do the craziest things.”
35-year-old Samson Okeke says love is the best thing that has ever happened to him. He added that the phrase ‘love is blind’ has become cliché for several reasons. “When I first saw my wife, it was love at first sight because I fell in love with her the very moment I set my eyes on her. Though her face and some parts of her body have been scarred by burns and even her face was affected, I just couldn’t help but love her more. I remember a lot of my friends and even my family members criticized her and said she wasn’t a good match to me. My mother told me point-blank that she wouldn’t accept that girl as her daughter-in-law and tried her best to discourage me and stop me from marrying the girl. But because I loved her so much, I damned the consequences. I don’t care what people think or say, all I know is I love my wife just the way she is.”
Jibril Yusuf, 26, is a banker who says the notion of love being blind is true and shouldn’t be criticized, as everyone has different ways of interpreting their emotions. “I have a relative who presented her suitor to her family but the parents were reluctant because the guy was married to three wives so she was going in as the fourth. Her parents tried so hard to make her marry a single guy but because she was in love, she was adamant.”
But teenaged Fadila Umar strongly believes that there is nothing like love being blind and she called on people to wake up and face reality. “So many people I know have done crazy and stupid things, all in the name of love. I know love is a good thing and I am not saying one shouldn’t fall in love but there are limits. For instance, I know of someone whose husband lost his job and she virtually sold everything of hers just to assist him. After she raised him some capital and he began a successful business, he eventually threw her out of his house and married another woman. So, tell me, how on earth is love blind if he could do such a thing? I don’t buy that. Love isn’t blind and will never be. People should try and control what they do in the name of love.”
Rukayya Yusuf, in her early 20s, also said she doesn’t believe love is blind. “Yes, love can make you ignore a lot of bad habits and mistakes people make, but in the end you have to be smart enough to know when to let go. Love is never enough. Other things come along too like respect, trust and appreciation. A very common example is an abusive relationship. I don’t believe love is blind to the point it makes one stay in an abusive relationship. Lack of respect and appreciation shouldn’t be something anyone should turn a blind eye to.”