The Truth About Pictures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words -- but the problem is within the words that we come up with for that picture -- There are pictures everywhere... pictures in books, pictures on billboards, pictures on TV and pictures in our head, pictures in photo albums, pictures on the world wide web and the pictures others portray -- and everyone of them is worth a thousand words -- That is a lot of words --

One morning as I drove 45 minutes to school, I was thinking about how Dan and I say "I love you" every time we leave each other, come home, get off the phone, go to sleep and wake up -- Of course, this sounds romantic, right? (the picture you just got in your head) -- But where I was coming from was "Are we making I love you too route?" "Do we really mean it? Does he really mean it?" Of course I quickly snapped myself out of it because it's ridiculous to analyze your marriage like that --

I arrived at my beloved school, with whom I have a very intimate relationship, and parked -- I happened to look over and see a very fine looking BMW and in it were Ken and Barbie -- They were laughing and giving each other the goo goo eyes and I felt a little guilty as I watched, but that certainly didn't deter me -- They got out of the car and walked around the back to meet each other with the biggest and longest kiss... As she walked away, she said "I love you" in her flirtiest voice and he reciprocated --

My heart sunk as I played out this scenario in my mind (a thousand times) and convinced myself that because Dan and I don't walk away from each other in the mornings like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, we were doomed not to stay in love -- The woman I saw in the parking lot was an acquaintance of mine and she always asks me about newlywed life as she'd just been married a few months before us -- So, that day I decided to ask her about her newlywed life... I peaked my head into her office and asked, "So, how's the newlywed today?" She looked at me grimly and stated, "Until this morning, it was terrible, but we kissed and made up." Suddenly I realized...

-- the picture is only saying what I tell it to say --

The picture's worth comes from me! The pictures are there... they're everywhere and they aren't going away -- I realized that the picture I was giving my own marriage was we weren't doing good enough -- So... everyone else's pictures looked amazing! Dan and I have GREAT pictures! but just like you're always with yourself and you can miss your fantasticness... you are always with your marriage and you can miss its greatness! Conclusion? See the amazingness of your own marriage so next time you're looking at Mr. and Mrs. Fabulous, you'll give the picture its proper worth :-P