"Love VS Duty!"

Where "love" WINS, ..."duty" ENDS!

DUTY! It is the human promise of placing the completion of a said task before our wants and sometimes even needs. A "duty" usually is a deed that serves more than one or two people. It serves a group, a community, ...a nation. When we perform a duty we understand that we are a part of a bigger picture. Sometimes a picture so big that we can't even be seen in it. Now let's talk about love.

LOVE! The love that I speak of is the love that occurs in an adult relationship of intimacies between two people. It is when he or she becomes the most important person in ones life. More important than friends, siblings, parents, other groups, one's community, and yes at times, ...one's nation. When the magic of love occurs in a relationship, duty may find itself taking second seat to love. Sometimes duty might even find itself getting kicked out of the car in the name of love.

"Love" seizes time from duty because we have to put time into to love to nurture and flourish it. If we don't place time into love, we lose it! The person who we claim to love will grow distant from us and we will grow distant from him or her. And when we take time from our duty, we are not performing to it at our best. We have to slack if we are going to serve love instead of duty.

So how does one remain "dutiful" while still feeling, showing and giving the proper amount of love to the one in our life who deserves it? When we love someone aren't we supposed to place that person before everyone and everything else? Isn't that idea even used as a threat at times. Aren't we labelled as "non-loving" or even abusive when we don't place the one that we love before everything else including ourselves? And if we are supposed to place the one that we love before ourselves, that would have to include placing that loved one before everything that we promised to before we met them correct? If we put our duties before the one we love, it can be claimed that we don't "truly" love that person.

Should Spiderman have settled down with his high school sweetheart Mary Jane and left the crime fighting to local law enforcement? Should the emp from Game of Thrones have escaped with the woman that he loved and left the politicking to his family? Should our soldiers say "#$ck that when called to war and stay home to protect their loved one instead? Should our law enforcement, firemen, medial staffs skip work and stay home on the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries of their loved ones instead of serving their duties to patrol the streets for the safety of others? Should the boss stay home with his loved one instead of travelling every month to serve the needs of the corporation that he or she runs that employees hundreds of employees or maybe even just one employee?

Which is "right" to pick? Love or duty? Which one should be abandoned for the other? Does one have to be abandoned to rightfully serve the other? I am here to tell you NO! We CAN serve both and here's how.

When we find the one that we hold in high esteem things should start off with an education and an agreement. We should give an education about the prior duties and commitments that we had BEFORE meeting them along with an explanation of how we plan to remain in those services. Then a plan should be explored with this person that displays who we can be with them while still serving our duty without frailty. We must assure that our beloved will not only "accept" it, they must support us emotionally in our efforts. No making us feel bad about what we have to do or trying to stop it. Only sensible talks are allowed on how to do things better without the intent being more service to self.

After coming to a fair, sensible plan, both should agree to it making it our loved one's DUTY to help us serve our duty. Now love and duty will not only flow together for us, they will make each other stronger!

The famous Japanese Samurai warrior made a lifestyle out of assuring that their women supported the warrior men without flaw. It was her duty to help him serve his duty. Her tasks helped him to stay strong and relieved him when he returned home after duty. She was even secretly trained to serve his duty of protecting the family and home when he was away performing his duty. This bonded the two in a way that was indestructible.

As complicated or "new" as this answer may seem it really isn't. This should be a norm for all relationships regarding careers, schooling, jobs, habits, hobbies, entertainment etc... There should always be an agreed upon process to help each other prosper to be greater, while spending an ample amount of relationship serving and building time together. Then "love" will not have to VERSE "duty". They will work together allowing the two who are utilizing the process to verse the world together.

And THIS, ...is a "way" of "The Warrior's Edge" -Jermaine Andre'