Finding Love

"When I was alone then, no love in sight
And I did everything I could to get me through the night;
Don't know where it started or where it might end,
I turn to a stranger, just like a friend."
- Waylon Jennings ("Lookin' for Love")

Late in the evening of Thursday last week, a Cebu Pacific flight left Manila for Bangkok. On board that flight was Alice Cadian, a pretty and vivacious girl in her late twenties who works for a multinational company in Makati City.

The purpose of the Bangkok trip wasn't business. It wasn't vacation either. Alice made the trip to finally meet up with a European gentleman, one she had been corresponding with online for about a year now.

Alice made the trip very much against the well-intentioned advice of her closest friends who had expressed their concerns for her safety and well-being. Their concerns were valid for they already have a very good idea of what to expect in the weeks or months to come. They've seen the scenes play out so many times before. She meets a man, falls fast and hard for him, quickly dreams of a future to share with him, but alas, always ends up losing him. Not a few times have tears streamed endlessly down her pretty face whenever her relationships come to a sad and bitterly disappointing end.

Her situation raises some questions. When it comes to love, how, where and when do we find THE ONE? I've been on several relationships myself in the many years I've been on this earth. But to this day, and based on personal experience, I still do not really know the answers to those questions. Nor will I even try to find them.

Alice is such a sweet and pretty girl. She's funny and there's never a dull moment with her. Many a man would love to love someone like her. But maybe, all she needs to do is ease up on things a bit and not to force the issue to find the one true love that has so far eluded her.

There are a million and one ways to find love. Some find love within one's social circle, some find love at work or through some career-related association, some find it online, and for some, they find love serendipitously.

In the end, I believe love will simply happen, at a time and place of its own choosing. And when it does, it will find us and, if we're lucky, stay with us.