I Love So Hard

I love... so... hard. Like my heart don't come with brakes— only gas pedals. No speed limits. No caution signs. Just... GO.

If I love you... I'm all in. Both feet. Head first. Eyes closed. Faith open. That's dangerous.

(Beat.)

See, my love don't know how to play tag. It don't chase. It don't flirt with feelings. It plants roots. Builds foundations. Starts sketching blueprints while you still deciding whether you even like the neighborhood.

(Crowd.)

I love so hard... I start praying for your future before you ever become part of mine. I remember your favorite song. Your favorite meal. The stories you forgot you even told me. I notice when your smile changes keys. I hear pain... inside laughter. I can feel distance... before your feet ever start walking away.

(Breathe.)

That's my gift. That's my curse. Because everybody loves being understood... Until it's time to understand me.

(Crowd.)

Funny how that works. Everybody wanna borrow my sunshine... Ain't nobody asking who keeps paying my electric bill. Everybody loves the fruit... Don't nobody ask how tired the tree is.

(Beat.)

My love... got calluses. It's been working. Heavy lifting. Carrying relationships that should've had two people holding the weight. Instead... I became the bridge... while they enjoyed the view. I became the glue... while they kept testing gravity. I became the safe place... for people who never felt safe enough to stay.

(Breathe.)

I love so hard... I learn your scars like Scripture. Study your silence like it's sacred. Memorize the rhythm of your heartbeat... Just to discover... I was only background music in yours.

That thing... right there... That'll make you question your own reflection.

(Crowd.)

Was I too much? Too available? Too patient? Too forgiving? Too willing to keep giving CPR to relationships that flatlined months ago?

(Beat.)

Nah. I wasn't too much. I was too invested in people who only wanted temporary housing inside permanent love.

See... Some folks don't know what to do with consistency. Chaos feels familiar. Healthy feels suspicious. Real love feels too quiet... When they've spent their whole lives dating fireworks instead of fireplaces.

(Breathe.)

Meanwhile... I'm over here building fireplaces. Warmth. Safety. Peace. The kind of love that says, "I ain't going nowhere." The kind of love that checks on you when nobody's watching. The kind of love that chooses you even after the butterflies have gone to sleep.

(Crowd.)

But somewhere... I forgot... to choose me. I kept making reservations for people who always canceled. Kept setting tables for guests who never planned to eat. Kept writing chapters for readers who stopped after the introduction.

(Beat.)

I'm tired. Not tired of loving. Don't get that twisted. I'm tired of auditioning for roles I already earned. Tired of proving I'm enough to people still trying to prove themselves.

(Breathe.)

Love... don't seem to go hard for me. At least... that's what I used to believe. Then my spirit pulled me aside and whispered...

"What if... love has been coming for you... but you've been opening the door for everybody else first?"

(Beat.)

Ooooo... That sat heavy. Maybe... I kept giving away VIP access... to people who only bought general admission. Maybe I confused potential with promise. Chemistry with commitment. Attention with intention.

(Crowd.)

So hear me... My heart ain't closed. It's under new management.

Applications look different now. Consistency is the password. Communication is the currency. Reciprocity... is the rent.

If your love can't match mine... Don't lease space inside my soul.

(Breathe.)

Because my love is expensive. Not because it's complicated... Because it's genuine. Loyalty costs something. Presence costs something. Showing up every single day... costs something.

And baby... I've been paying everybody else's bill for far too long.

(Crowd.)

So here's what I know now... I don't love wrong. I love rare. I don't love weak. I love with weight. With backbone. With both hands open. With all ten toes planted. With prayers attached to my passion. With purpose attached to my presence.

And one day... Somebody's gonna meet me at full volume. They won't ask me to shrink. Won't ask me to soften. Won't ask me to stop loving hard...

They'll simply... love hard... back.

(Beat.)

Until then... I'll keep this heart clean. Not cold. Protected. Not imprisoned. Open. But discerning.

Because I finally learned... The greatest love story I was ever meant to write... started the moment I stopped begging other people... to read the chapters God already wrote about me.

I love... so... hard.

And from this day forward... the first heart that gets all of that love... will be mine.

(Blackout.)