I Can’t Promise To Be Perfect, But This Is Who I Promise To Be

Courtney Carmody
Courtney Carmody

I can’t promise to always be kind, especially when I’m upset.
I can’t promise I’ll follow through on every little thing I say.
I can’t promise I’ll listen to you, even when I know you’re right.
I can’t promise to always be sweet and sensitive, though I’ll try.

I can’t promise to always do my dishes, or to make my side of the bed. I can’t promise that I’ll always want to tell you what’s on my mind. I can’t promise that I’ll turn to you first when I’m afraid.

But I can promise you one thing: I’ll never stop loving you.

I know that I’m stubborn. I know that there will be plenty of times when I pull away from you because I’m hot-headed or sassy or emotional, or just because I want to be by myself for a little while.

I know I’ll drive you crazy. I know I won’t always say the right things or be the woman you need me to be. But please, never doubt for a minute, the fact that I want to be. That I want to be your everything and more, because I do. And always will.

I can’t promise to be perfect.

I know I’ll mess up thousands of times and hurt your feelings, even when I have the best intentions not to. I know I’ll sometimes say one thing and do another. I know that I’m human.

I can’t promise to be perfect, but here’s what I promise to be:

I promise to be the girl that never stops trying.

The girl that continues to run a race she’ll never win, who tries to achieve the unachievable, who loves and loves and loves even when the candle’s burnt out for the both of us. Because no matter what, I’ll find another way to light that fire again.

I promise to be the girl that smiles at you, even when she’s down.
The girl that tries to brighten your life, even when hers is dark.

I promise to always be the one you can turn to.
To always hold out my hand for you to take, to pull us both through.

I promise to be consistent, to be there, even if I’m tired or sad or angry or frustrated or feel completely alone. I promise to tell you these things, and to tell you honestly, so that we can somehow find our way back to one another again.

I promise, not to be perfect, but to be real.

To always stay the strong-minded, big-hearted woman that you fell in love with. And no matter how we change, or what life throws at us, to stay true to her. To us.

I promise to always work to make us better. To communicate, to find reasons to fall in love even if we’re sleeping at opposite corners of the house and have fallen so far away from who we used to be that we’re afraid.

I promise to never be afraid.

Not of us, not of what will happen next, not of love.

I promise, not to be an ideal woman, who always says and does the right things, but a woman who understands that we are both human, and that it takes two to love.

I promise to always hold a piece of you in my heart, even if life takes us away from each other. Even if we can no longer be the people we once were.

I promise to love you, even if that’s not enough. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Marisa is a writer, poet, & editor. She is the author of Somewhere On A Highway, a poetry collection on self-discovery, growth, love, loss and the challenges of becoming.

Keep up with Marisa on Instagram, Twitter, Amazon and marisadonnelly.com

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