Quiet, calm evening. Returning from work, I plopped down on the sofa with a plate of chips, turned on the TV and just started dumbing down... My brain needed unloading. The phone was lying next to me. The sound of a WhatsApp message, I read: “Hello, I miss you.” What? Silent pause...3 months, 3 long months I forgot you, I finally began to live, to feel, I thought about a lot of things, changed my mind, I realized what a goat you are and here again? And what's wrong with me now? I’m ready to forget the fatigue after the past day, get behind the wheel and rush to you. I know that there will be crazy sex, a flurry of emotions, tears of joy and incredible trepidation inside, hope that everything will work out... However, later, you will tell me again that you are not ready for a serious relationship. Which is tempting, but... I don’t care That's it, I want it! You must follow your desires, no matter what! Come what may... My hands are shaking, my head is foggy, I type: “I miss you terribly, too, where are you?”... Curtain... A game I call “Running in a Circle.” Whoever says “stop the game” first wins. They agreed a hundred times, they diverged a hundred times. Sound familiar? Yes to me...What is the reason for the inconsistency? Why do people make a decision, then cancel it, and so on until their strength is exhausted, until they completely lose hope? What attracts them to each other? What exactly makes them come back to each other, despite the fact that somewhere in the distance they know in their heads: it’s better not to, everything will happen again... When you ask the players, they say: “We can’t live without each other, this is a real Love. He (she) is like a drug to me, I can’t cope with it.” Is this true? It turns out that true love means periodically kicking each other, suffering, and then bringing each other back? Create an emotional drive? Is this all love? The one that gives strength and peace? The one that fills you with joy? What's the catch? Where is the line beyond which emotional abuse and dependence begin? My answer is this: love is when I can live without you, but it’s more joyful for me to live with you. Love is when we are stronger together, and not when someone convinces, pushes, argues, or convinces someone. Love is “despite differences,” but without stepping on one’s own throat.