Comparison

What Makes Something Truly Special?

Three years into marriage, and I still find myself adjusting—not to someone else's world, but to the one I helped build. It's strange how we often think the environment will change around us, when in reality, we are part of shaping it. Marriage, I’ve come to learn, isn’t just about love in its romantic form; it’s about commitment, responsibility, and an everyday choice to stand by the same person—regardless of the situation.

I’m trying. I really am. I do small things sometimes—acts of care, gestures I hope will make her smile. Other times, I step back. Not out of neglect, but because I don't feel like doing something just for the sake of it. There are a few things that matter deeply to me, and I’ve expressed them to my wife—hoping she understands and values them as I do.

Then something happened recently. A moment that pulled me back to a past relationship. In that relationship, the girl would effortlessly take care of the things that mattered to me. Whether she was tired, busy, or even upset, she made sure those little things—like making me tea before bed—were never missed. She just… understood. It wasn't about control or sacrifice. It was her way of saying, I see you, I care.

Yesterday at 6:24 a.m., I asked my wife for a cup of tea before going to sleep—a small ritual that brings me comfort. She refused. She was tired, asleep, and I had disturbed her. She got upset. And in that moment, I couldn’t help but compare.

That’s when it hit me: Love makes us do things, sometimes inconvenient things, for the people we care about. Not because we're forced to, but because we want to. True love expresses itself in quiet acts—simple, consistent, thoughtful.

But here's the paradox: the one who loves like that, openly and generously, often ends up being judged for it. We take them for granted. And when they’re gone, regret settles in—because the smallest gestures become the biggest memories.

Few thing cannot be undone. Regret hurts, not because of what happened, but because of what didn't. What wasn't said, what wasn’t appreciated, what was ignored.

Love isn’t a grand declaration—it’s tea at 6:24 a.m. It’s knowing someone’s comfort and choosing it over your convenience. It’s in the unspoken, the unnoticed, the uncelebrated efforts.

And perhaps, that’s what makes something truly special.