Marijuana: An Argument For Legalization

Growing up, I was given the impression that marijuana was a horrible, dangerous, addictive drug that only hardened criminals used. I credit mainstream media and a host of public educators. That outlook stuck with me for a long time. In recent years I have spent a large accumulation of time studying the drug and comparing research to gain a better, more informed understanding. As I became more knowledgeable, my stance on the highly controversial subject of marijuana legality shifted. Presently, I fully support legalization for medical use.

To be clear up front, I have never used it, nor would I unless 1) it is legalized in my jurisdiction; and 2) I have a valid medical need and prescription. That doesn't mean I am supportive of unwarranted recreational use. But I don’t believe it should be illegal. By that, I mean I am principally against big government. And my opposition to big government means I don’t think they should be nearly as pervasively or extensively involved in the non-violent affairs of the citizenry as they are. Just as an adult has the legal right to smoke tobacco, I believe they should have the legal right to smoke marijuana.

Now for a short history lesson. Cannabis being listed as a Schedule 1 controlled substance in the first place stands on rather shaky ground. It has had significant use and acceptance throughout history, and among many cultures. Of course that’s no proof of safety, but it certainly helps to give some insight into whether it’s really as dangerous as propagandists make it out to be. In general, though, the negative connotations are a relatively recent invention.

It started after the Mexican Revolution in the early 1900s. As the demonization of Mexicans became a big thing, the government enacted marijuana tax laws to give themselves an excuse to search, detain, and deport Mexican immigrants. This method of control turned out to be very successful. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was eventually ruled unconstitutional and illegal, but was quickly replaced by the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. As the bill was being drafted in a House committee, Assistant Secretary of Health Roger O. Egeberg suggested that cannabis be placed in the most restrictive category, Schedule 1, supposedly as a placeholder while President Nixon commissioned a report. In 1972, Raymond P. Shafer presented that report to Congress, declaring that marijuana should not be in Schedule 1 and even doubted its designation as an illicit substance. However, President Nixon discounted the recommendations of the commission, and marijuana remains a Schedule 1 substance today.

Being a Schedule 1 controlled substance has put a major hamper on research. Being illegal to grow, import, or possess, United States scientists really can't learn more about it. And if a scientist were to study it privately, they couldn't publish their findings for fear of years of imprisonment. Luckily, recent law changes in select states and legality in other countries has allowed continued research. What good research is available supports there being valid medicinal properties.

Smoking pot does, indeed, come with harmful consequences, which shouldn't be ignored. However, most of those are related to the carcinogenic tars, such as nitrosamines, reactive aldehydes, and polycyclic hydrocarbons, as well as carbon monoxide produced by burning carbon-based plant materials. Additionally, build-up of unburned plant matter and excess exposure to heat for the lungs can have negative repercussions. But most, if not all of those negatives can be mitigated by extracting the cannabinoids from the plant material, as in hash oil or edibles. There are also potentially negative consequences for brain development, but they are minimal, and often avoidable. As per the Medical Cannabis page on Wikipedia: "Effects of chronic use may include... subtle impairments of attention and memory. These deficits persist while chronically intoxicated. There is little evidence that cognitive impairments persist in adult abstinent cannabis users. Compared to non-smokers, people who smoked cannabis regularly in adolescence exhibit reduced connectivity in specific brain regions associated with memory, learning, alertness, and executive function. A study has suggested that sustained heavy, daily, adolescent onset cannabis use over decades is associated with a decline in IQ by age 38. No effects were found in those who initiated cannabis use later, or in those who ceased use earlier in adulthood." Aside from the potential, rather minor negative effects, using cannabinoid extracts can have a wide spectrum of valid medical uses. Cannabidiol(CBD), for example, has notable neuroprotective and anxiolytic effects. However, abuse and addiction are still important to watch out for, given the mildly addictive and psychoactive side-effects of tetrahydrocannabinol(THC).

Considering smoked cannabis is not too different in negative consequences to smoked tobacco (and any other smoked plant material), but also considering means of mitigation and valid medicinal uses, I fully support its legalization for medical use at the least, especially in light of the racist and propagandized basis for it being made illegal in the first place.


Citations and further reading:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marihuana_Tax_Act_of_1937
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Commission_on_Marihuana_and_Drug_Abuse
[3] http://www.drugpolicy.org/blog/how-did-marijuana-become-illegal-first-place
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_cannabis

Open Your Mind

"Open your mind!" This is a phrase I have heard repeatedly over the years from a huge diversity of people, both online and in-person. It's better to be open-minded than closed-minded, isn't it? I think it is. If you're closed-minded, you're highly susceptible to blindly believing or doing things that may be wrong, right? Better to be open-minded and to know better than all those closed-minded people, correct?

Now here's where I differ in my thoughts from the popular advocates of this principle in the modern world. I differ primarily in definition. The popular advocates tend to push the liberal side of controversial subjects and spend quite a bit of their energy labeling those that don't agree with them as being closed-minded. The definition of "open-minded", as a consensus of several of the most popular dictionaries, is being willing to consider other arguments or ideas. This does not mean blindly accepting or automatically biasing toward those ideas. It means to be willing to consider them, to study them, and to work out where you stand based on reason, evidence, and good-conscience. Being closed-minded, on the other hand, would be an inverse of that concept. It would be unwillingness to hear or consider other ideas. It would be a blind acceptance of something without reasonable examination.

But today's common "open-mindedness" doesn't quite follow that definition. In popular culture, and as heavily peddled by the media, being open-minded tends to be exactly what I previously mentioned. It seems that this liberal touted "open-mindedness" is more a rejection of anything that goes contrary to their own rather closed-minded agenda. What they are calling "open-minded" is only “open-minded” if it in some way supports their agenda, or at the least attacks agendas they choose to be poised against. If it contradicts their agenda, even if accompanied by strong evidence, it seems to be immediately discounted and filed under the mislabel of "closed-minded". And conversely, this type of "open-mindedness" is in fact deceptively mislabeled closed-mindedness.

This is what I have a problem with. Not open-mindedness itself, as properly defined, but mislabeled closed-mindedness. If you are truly open-minded, you are willing to hear both sides of controversial issues, consider them, and reason out your views rather than blindly labeling it as false just because the vocal ones in the media tend to do so. And even when you’ve made up your mind, you should still be open to considering new arguments and new information and potentially changing your stance on a topic.

I've been accused of being closed-minded countless times simply based on my religion, political views, or views on other controversial subjects. However, I feel that is quite unfair, as I do consider other views. I spend quite a large amount of time studying, even to the point of calling into question things I've long believed. I've changed my views on quite a few things as I've studied and contemplated and I'm not afraid to continue doing so.

On the other hand, I see countless posts and articles that focus on attacking subjects and people in quite a closed-minded fashion. They rely heavily on generalizations, assumptions, status-quo, and calling whoever sides with what they're attacking as closed-minded. And unfortunately, too many people tend to blindly agree with the author, as long as they share a political view and the author associates their opinion with "open-mindedness."

Instead, I think it's important to really understand what being open-minded is all about, and then to be so on an individual bases, rather than following some crowd that thinks they're "open-minded", while being closed-minded all the while. Be open to other points of view, study, contemplate, and be willing to change your own views. That doesn't mean you automatically side with pop-culture and vocal liberals, but it does mean you consider their views.

Aspartame—A Harmless Poison

I've long heard both sides of the controversy over human consumption of aspartame, an alternative sweetener. On one side it's made out to be a treacherous poison that causes cancer, paralysis, mental disorders, and a whole array of terrifying toxic reactions that destroy health and lead to a quick death. On the other side it's argued that it's essentially harmless. But which side has it correct? Or are both sides wrong together? I've spent a good bit of time studying and attempting to gain an understanding of where this sugar-replacement stands. After watching a few news segments in the '90s, I spent many years fearing the substance. Herein I attempt to reasonably abridge what I've learned.

First and foremost, we have to understand a little about the biochemistry of aspartame metabolism. It has been clinically shown[1][2] that aspartame undergoes its first stage of metabolism (even in relatively high amounts), before ever entering the bloodstream. In the small intestines, aspartame undergoes rapid acid hydrolysis, becoming phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol. Methanol is metabolized into formaldehyde, then into formic acid. Formic acid is rapidly metabolized and expelled from the body. That is all part of the natural metabolic processes our bodies are built to perform.

So, we have phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and formic acid (metabolized from formaldehyde). Regardless of the complex names, the first two are essential amino acids. Our bodies depend on them to grow and function properly. But how about formaldehyde? Our bodies produce it as part of natural processes. But our bodies are also built to dispose of it. It only becomes a problem in significantly higher quantities. All three of these pertinent metabolites enter our bodies in much, much higher quantities from other food sources. Many fruits and fruit juices contain significantly higher quantities of methanol than is produced by consuming normal levels of aspartame.

Considering how the body metabolizes it, aspartame has no clinically shown negative affect on our bodies. The claims of causing cancer, neuronal changes, psychiatric disturbances, etc. are patently false. Yet through propaganda, scare-tactics, and deception, the myths of aspartame having toxic effects still seem to propagate. Part of the reason, I believe, has to do with the myth that the complexity of chemical names correlates to their level of harmfulness somehow. Just because we read a name like phenylalanine, aspartic acid, or formaldehyde, and realize that they're unfamiliar, hard to pronounce, or uncommon in our daily conversation, doesn't mean anything about what they actually do, how important they actually are, or whether they are actually harmful or not. Another likely source of public terror might be a known condition called Phenylketonuria(PKU). PKU is a very rare genetic condition (1 of every 15,000 newborns in the United States)[3] that causes a person to not be able to metabolize phenylalanine as efficiently, which can lead to an over-accumulation of the amino acid, and resultant health consequences. Additionally, there were some early studies that scared the public. But those studies were found to use bad science and flawed reasoning.

In conclusion, I think scientifically sound studies have more than abundantly shown the harmlessness of aspartame in the human diet. It's one of the most rigorously tested food ingredients to date. While it's dogmatically asserted to be a poison by some, in reality it's completely benign to the human body (hence the ironic title). I strongly support its continued use in consumer products. There are truly harmful and poisonous substances in food, pills, the environment and elsewhere. Aspartame just isn't one of them. Let's focus on what really matters.

[Update 2015-03-18:]
Please see the added reference for an even better explanation of how biochemically harmless aspartame is.

References:

[1] http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10408440701516184

[2] http://chemeducator.org/first/papers/s00897092231a.pdf

[3] http://consensus.nih.gov/2000/2000phenylketonuria113html.htm

[-] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame#Safety_and_health_effects
[-] http://courses.bio.indiana.edu/L104-Bonner/F09/imagesF09/L6/DietCoke.html

The Measure Of Ones Beauty

My thoughts on beauty, as originally expressed to my love (@lauraramargosian) over a year ago…

Laura, let me explain something. Beauty is essentially based on the measure of admiration a person holds toward someone or something, whether that admiration comes from a sense of pleasantry related to, or respect held toward the subject in question. This being the case, beauty is highly subjective in nature. In the case of me and you, I truly think you are very beautiful. It comes down to where you look for the measure of your own beauty. Are you looking to what you think the world agrees is beautiful, whether accurate or not? Even if this is the case, it’s very hard to get a true, all-inclusive consensus. For example, America and India would have quite a bit of difference in their general standard of beauty. History and culture have largely shaped their respective views. If you’re looking to Hollywood, it’s measures are corporately controlled, corrupt, and sometimes near-impossible anyway. Are you looking at some past precedent of whether you are beautiful, based on the inherently negative opinions of those that hate you or are biased against you? If so, those will never be accurate or good and will always lead to disappointment. Are you looking to measure your beauty from those that love and care about you the most? Isn’t this the most important, if not perhaps the only important measure of your real beauty? Those that really care about you will stand by your side. They are the ones that will surround you and support you throughout your life. So this is, in all reality, the general measure by which I believe you should gauge your beauty. I would include God among this list, and He sees immense beauty in each and every one of His children. If you are gauging your beauty by multiple of the listed perspectives, please don’t let your weighting be out of balance. Those who are closest matter most, and should perhaps be the only factor in your personal view of your own beauty. I love and care about you very much and I think you are an extremely beautiful girl (certainly in your looks, but also including other things about you). I think your family and close friends would completely agree with me. So, please, realize how truly beautiful you really are. Beautiful, pretty, gorgeous, cute, and all the related adjectives are quite certainly applicable and descriptive of you.

[Poem] My Love

My love for you is deep and true,
I will never give up on you.

You are my life, my world, my all,
and if you slip I’ll break your fall.

I’ll go to every length for you,
to show my heart, that it is true.

Your past is filled with pain and tears,
but I will fight to quiet your fears.

No fool will break your heart again,
for I will guard again and again.

Always know this fact is true,
I do love you, through and through.

From now until forever ends,
our love will conquer twists and bends.

What we have built will never fall,
but will forever grow so tall.
——————–
A poetry piece dedicated to my love, my all, Laura.

Our Story, Part 1 - Up To The First Date

Our story started back in 2009. You see, I decided to start using an app on Facebook called 'Hot Or Not' during the summer after I graduated High School. I met several interesting people, talked, and even added some of them as friends on Facebook, though I never actually met any of them in real life. One of which was named 'Chelsey'. Had I not added her, my life would never be where it is today. I never got to know her too well. I just knew she played a lot of soccer (which I happen to enjoy, though I'm not that great), listened to a lot of the same music, and happened to also be LDS. Time passed and I spent less and less time and focus on that app and started preparing to serve a two year mission for my church.

My mission takes place as one of the most powerful, treasured experiences of my life. I wouldn't trade it. It changed me for the better in so many ways. Eventually that came to an end. I went home and immediately started working on reacquainting myself with non-mission life. I jumped right back into social media, including Facebook. I had a lot to catch up on. Eventually, about a week or so after getting home (March 12, 2012), I saw a friend request from someone named 'Laura TheRomanian'. Normally I would be skeptical about just accepting a friend request from someone I hadn't heard of before. I looked at the profile and some of her posts a bit and decided (as well as having a feeling, or prompting, that propelled me) to accept the friend request. I later learned that she was going through Chelsey's friends and added me because she thought I looked cute from my Facebook picture. Time went by and I didn't think much of it, but I started liking some of her posts. Then, during the summer of 2012, I started actively commenting on her posts. I began putting more thought and effort into it. She started putting thought and effort into replying to my replies. She also started commenting on my posts. That was when we legitimately started to connect. Then one night I posted about going to the temple (August 23, 2012). While I was there, she left a comment on my post saying: "And I'm not with you??" And after getting home I replied: "Well if I knew you wanted to come I would have invited you. It was good though. I quite like the monthly ward temple days :)" She then told me that she did want to, gave me her number, and told me to text her.

Our texting started out slow. It would often be days between texts and replies. She told me I should gym with her on August 28th. The interesting thing is that is was her who inspired me to start gymming in the first place. I originally signed up for the Gold's Gym Express in Draper. Anyhow it took a while before any of our planned gym sessions worked out. We kept in touch. We started with our good morning texts, sometimes good night texts, and had many deep, long conversations. She also asked me to send her daily scriptures (which I put a lot of thought into). She said she was always prompted to talk to me. She started opening up over time. She started letting me in and revealing the deep struggles she faced with her past, the abandonment of her friend (Chelsey), the cheating of her ex, and the terrible things she faced growing up with her dad. All of that weighed heavily on her. I remember many times when she felt suicidal, where she felt like she couldn't take the pain and struggle anymore. I even remember a period of time where she decided she was never going to pursue a relationship again. I did my best to be a strong support to her during that time. It was hard on her, and because I had become her best friend, and cared so very much, I did all that I could to help her make it through that time. It brought me to tears sometimes as I would think about the struggles she faced and pray for her. Though she didn't realize it, she also helped me to grow and become better myself in many ways. Time passed and eventually Christmas Eve came. Her dad ruined that for her with drunkenness and violence and ended up going to jail. In the wake of that I was as good of support as I could be to her. On New Years Day 2013 me and my brother, Justin, went and helped her move into a different apartment. That was actually the first time I had ever met her in person, and it was a great experience, in spite of the unfortunate circumstances.

Over the next few months we started getting closer and talking even more. Eventually, after she broke it off with a guy she was seeing between early December 2012 and February 22, 2013, she suggested that we could finally go on an official date. To me, I was deeply grateful inside. I remember stalking that guy on twitter and when I did I figured he would never support the goals she had or be a very good match. I remained silent, but prayed nightly that whatever happened she would end up with someone that would support her and be exactly who she needs. It turned out that the mismatch of goals and values was exactly why she broke it off with him. Either way, that was a huge blessing to me. A couple days later she admitted that the first time she saw me she thought I was "completely attractive". I let her know I thought she was cute as well. That same day (February 25th), I happened to upgrade my gym membership and started going to the West Jordan Gold's Gym. We finally started actually getting some gym sessions in together. We bonded a lot through our time at the gym. Also, we began to admit that she was beautiful and I was handsome. Our texts got even more "cutesy" as time went on. To be honest, I stopped having an interest in other girls from about the moment we started becoming close friends in 2012, but that became even more true throughout 2013. We went on our first date on March 13th. It was long and amazing. We started by eating dinner at Olive Garden. Being our first date, of course we were nervous. It was evident to each of us. But we started to get to know each other on a more personal level. The food was delicious, and having each others company was even better. After that we walked over to the mall and spent a good while "window shopping" and taking pictures. We were going to find something else to do after, but we both decided we loved to gym and didn't want to skip, so we had an excellent gym session together. After working out we spent time swimming. We then sat at the edge of the pool and talked for a while. We realized that we aligned so much on politics, likes, and so much more. We were honestly more comfortable together than I had ever been with anyone on a date or in general. As self-conscious as I had always been about my body, I was relatively comfortable and confident. In fact, she always brought out the best in me. After swimming some more, we spent time in the hot tub and steam room to finish off our time at the gym. After some pictures, we went back to her place. our date had lasted from around 6PM until 1:30AM. After some talking I walked her to the door, said good night, and headed home. We both agreed that that was the best date ever for either of us up to that point. And it was.

In retrospect, me and Laura both felt that we were meant for each other and loved each other from that first date. That was the magical moment when we each realized we wanted to be together, though we weren't straight forward about it just then.

Marriage And Love

I write this firstly as a letter to my sweet, beloved wife, to express to her my thoughts on the matter of marriage and love, and to reassure her of how seriously I take these things. Secondly I write this as an open letter to the world at large, in order to perhaps shed some perspective on this important matter in a time of great controversy and endless heart break.

First I want to quote C. S. Lewis, a philosopher and theologian I greatly admire. In his book, Mere Christianity, he expresses a view on marriage and love that falls close to my own in a lot of ways. Quoting part of his chapter about marriage, he says...

Those who are in love have a natural inclination to bind themselves by promises. Love songs all over the world are full of vows of eternal constancy. The Christian law is not forcing upon the passion of love something which is foreign to that passion's own nature: it is demanding that lovers should take seriously something which their passion of itself impels them to do.
And, of course, the promise, made when I am in love and because I am in love, to be true to the beloved as long as I live, commits me to being true even if I cease to be in love. A promise must be about things that I can do, about actions: no one can promise to go on feeling in a certain way. He might as well promise never to have a headache or always to feel hungry. But what, it may be asked, is the use of keeping two people together if they are no longer in love? There are several sound, social reasons; to provide a home for their children, to protect the woman (who has probably sacrificed or damaged her own career by getting married) from being dropped whenever the man is tired of her. But there is also another reason of which I am very sure...
No one in his senses would deny that being in love is far better than either common sensuality or cold self-centredness. But, as I said before, "the most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of our own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs." Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last, but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called "being in love" usually does not last... But, of course, ceasing to be "in love" need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense — love as distinct from "being in love" — is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be "in love" with someone else. "Being in love" first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.

As I said, this is quite close in many regards to how I feel regarding the subject. However, I would add a few thoughts. I view this "being in love" Lewis talks about as the same thing as that quieter love Lewis talks about. Rather than losing one and settling with the other, it simply has a "newness" or "freshness" to it. It's something different, something we haven't quite had before. It's a change from our former condition, or at the least a change of circumstances. But that underlying love never has to disappear. It can and should be worked at and continually fortified and strengthened, even though that "newness" will wear off. Over time, and with a focus on further improving that emotional connection and developing greater unity, that love will cement itself in place, though it will inevitably feel quieter and gentler.

Marriage is a big step in life, and ought to be taken quite seriously. I have always supported the concept of becoming friends first, and developing those initial romantic feelings and connections later. After all, your eventual spouse should be your strongest and closest friend through the rest of your life. If you can become true, loving, caring, connected friends, I believe any little conflicts can be resolved through the development of a relationship and even through the further development that happens throughout the rest of your married lives. You don't fully unify right off. It seems there will unavoidably be differences, small conflicts, and things that bug each of you about the other. Over time you learn those things about your partner, and you learn things about yourself. You work on understanding one another, compromising, and working through things together. But a small conflict is never cause to abandon love or destroy a marriage. As a very inspired man, Thomas S. Monson, once said: "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." We simply don't have to let a small difference grow to destroy the beautiful love we start a marriage or relationship with. When a thing or a conflict becomes more important to us than that person that should be of utmost importance to us, we begin to build a wedge that pushes our partner away and can destroy our relationship entirely if we let it. People are far more important than things or small conflicts. We have to keep our perspective in check and focus on those things that are truly important.

Honesty is a key part of this love and marriage, as C. S. Lewis so keenly points out. Both with ourselves and with our spouse, honesty is a fundamental building block of a strong relationship. When we are married, at least in the Christian sense, we make promises to be true and faithful to the person we are uniting ourselves with. We covenant before God, our family, our friends, our spouse, and ourselves to love, cherish, care for, and remain strictly and singly faithful in all ways to our companion for the rest of our lives. Not just for a few weeks or years, not until the next person comes along, not until we decide we're "bored" or have a fight, but for the rest of mortality. To give up on that love is a sad and dishonest thing to do.

Now, there are cases where I wouldn't blame a person, and perhaps may support them for choosing to end their marriage. If a spouse commits infidelity and is unwilling to correct their extreme wrongdoing and mold their characters into more honest and completely faithful ones, I don't think it's a bad thing for the wronged spouse to separate themselves. In cases of extreme violence and abuse, where the guilty spouse is unwilling to correct their behavior, I also feel supportive of severance. But in the overwhelming majority of divorce cases I feel marriage is taken far too lightly and leaving is gone to as an easy cop-out, when that mocks the very foundation of what marriage is, or at least what it ought to be.

One of the most important things some people don't realize is that marriage is not founded on sex. Sure, intercourse is an amazing and wonderful tool given for the dual purposes of creating life and strengthening emotional connection and unity. It promotes happiness and healthiness. But when it becomes our fixation, or when we substitute unadulterated lust for love, our relationship and happiness starts to decay. Lust is the great nemesis of true, lasting love. When we found a relationship on lust, and fail to establish or maintain that true, beautiful, selfless love, we are setting ourselves up for misery and failure.

I feel very strongly that differences can about always be resolved in marriage. I believe full-heartedly in our ability to change, if we let ourselves. If there happens to be some habits or details that are preventing our marriage from being all that it can be (even if it's a difference of "love language" or some other mannerism or trait), I believe the willing couple can work together to overcome any struggle, however great or small. Communication, humility, and commitment are key. If you don't understand your spouses love language, talk about it, learn it, and use it. Be willing to change and become better and more unified, even if that means extra effort, learning new things, or adjusting something for the better. If your spouse can improve, don't be afraid to bring it up. Sometimes communication can be the whole difference between a happy, loving, unified marriage, and a decaying, divorce-bound marriage. It can be hard at times, but marriage is meant to come with it's struggles. Pushing through hardship as a couple can bring you closer together.

Marriage and real love can be the most wonderful thing in the world. They take a lot of hard work and dedication, but they can bring some of the greatest happiness to be found in this mortal life. The blessings that it brings far exceed any sacrifice or struggle required to find it and build it into all that it is capable of being. Marriage doesn't have to lose it's love. If you realize something is lacking, fight to bring it back or fix it. Fight to become one, in that biblical sense of connection and unity. Fix whatever may be causing the disturbance, but don't use a loss of love or boredom as an excuse to abandon your promises and discredit yourself as an honest person.

I haven't been entirely comprehensive, but I feel strongly about what I have talked about. There is a lot to marriage. It's no simple matter, and it takes one heck of a lot of work. But it's the same with anything that's worth doing in life. Though things may get hard at times, that's no excuse to give up. If anything, that's cause to put more effort and time into it and make it all that it can be.

To my beautiful, amazing, beloved wife, do know that I plan to exemplify these principles throughout our marriage. I full-heartedly believe in them, though I may not be perfect in everything I've discussed yet. Marriage to me is a promise to fight for us for the rest of mortality. The view I have on love and marriage means that I will never leave you because things get hard. It means that I will always fight to live the commitments I made on our wedding day. When I said "I do", I meant it. My love for you will never expire. It will never pivot on some silly quarrel or difference to be figured out. Our marriage, as far as I am concerned, is permanent. It will never, no matter what hardships may come, be something to give up on. We may yet have things to learn about each other, or compromises to find, but the beauty of it is that with each of those things, we can become even closer to one another. They don't have to drive us apart. I won't let them. We can and will love each other unceasingly. And beyond that, I plan for our love and companionship to last throughout all eternity.