CAVEAT EMPTOR (Let the Buyer Beware)

Love…love…love… Pervasive and ubiquitous. Albeit it’s an impeccably wonderful topic to discuss, I always find myself having second thoughts about it. Not because I am sarcastic or vindictive, it’s just that love is a very lofty word. Past and present writers of nobility haven’t even managed to explain its true worth. So how am I supposed to give justice in scrutinizing such noble word? I am frightened that I may desecrate it and that my effort will be put in vain. But, I decided that I should try my best to write about it so that I could allow my heart to breathe again. Because I am now drowning with a magnificent emotion and I need to release it now or else I would embark in this life like a bomb. Any moment I could explode in midair and pieces of my body will plummet directly to hell’s pit. And that would be the end of all.

Love. Some people restrain it. Others celebrate it. Few deny it. But the question is how do you know it? Affirmative, it is always present. From God’s ultimate love to us. From the infinite love of parents to their children. From a caring touch and listening ears of a person to his friends. But how about from a person destined to be the one saying the word “I do” beside you? How do you know he is the one? How would you convince yourself that he is the person you ought to spend your entire life with? Majority of the people I’ve conversed with said, “Mararamdaman mo yon.” But what if your emotions just made you blind, intoxicated, aggressive and adventurous. And you made the WRONG choice. You cannot just say, “Hey I’m okay.” after a poignant heartbreak, an irreversible divorce or annulment and an unearthly grief. Indeed, a person can stand up again and recuperate, be well and live life again. But. It’s a complete hard work, a wrestling with time, and a villainous emergence. Nonetheless before falling in love let a consumer phrase be the guide, 

“CAVEAT EMPTOR.” (Lat. Let the buyer beware)

Daphne, a young huntress, would completely agree with me. Her story did appease my anxious mind a little. She is an independent, love-and-marriage-hating woman. A daughter of a river god who never dreamed of loving a mortal, more so, a god. However, Apollo, the god of light, fell in love with her. He wooed her and promised everything to her. Scared and confused, she ran away from him determined to escape the overwhelming confrontation. But the god was profoundly consistent and unyielding as metal. Inflamed with ardor and passion, he followed her wherever she goes. He did not give up. He never surrendered. He did not stop for good. He just loved and loved. Because of this, Daphne pleaded to her father to save her out of fear. In an instance, she turned into a laurel tree. Apollo, full of consternation, mourned for his beloved maiden. Although forever lost to his embrace, he vowed his unending love to the Laurel Tree. And the tree melodically waved its branches and leaves as a sign of acceptance and consent after realizing that she, too, loved the god wholeheartedly. This is the reason why Laurel is the tree of Apollo.

Nothing can fully grasp the full nature of love. It is something beyond. Something incomprehensible. Something that the human mind cannot really perceive. As human beings, we are only given an example of such supreme emotion and that is God’s love which was shown through Jesus Christ. In addition, no one knows if a person is the right one for you. No one has been given that privilege… that gift… that power. 

Maybe the only thing that can be advised was to follow the footstep of Daphne… “Caveat Emptor” and then choose wisely!!!