Our teacher in personal development asked us about relationships.
"In a relationship, when parting ways, who is the one who hurts the most? The one who leaves or the one who was left behind?" A defeaning silence filled the room, and no one dared to make some noise.
Lara, our president, raised her hand and stood confidently as she answered our teacher.
"For me, 'yung taong naiwan po ang mas nasaktan," she said while smiling.
"And why is that?" our teacher asked.
"Because they are the ones who don't have the strength to leave and are left with no choice but to be alone." My classmate agreed about her answer, and I saw how our teacher was impressed by her answer.
"Ms. De Leon, mind telling us what your thoughts are about our topic?" I froze in my seat when our teacher called my name. I felt the stares of all my classmates waiting for me to answer the question.
I stood up and faced him with a blank face.
"For me, the one who left is the one who hurt the most," I stated, and I saw how the whole classroom filled with confusion.
"Leaving doesn't mean you have the strength to leave and be happy after you left. Does this mean they're not in pain? No. Have you tried thinking what's the main reason why they left? Because they'd hurt so bad that they couldn't stay and bear the pain in their own. Left with no choice, they chose to leave and that brought another pain again with them. They don't have enough strength to leave but they have enough pain to suffer that's why they choose to leave." And from our distance, I saw how his face was filled with regret and sadness.
"But this won't justify cheating and not being committed in a relationship. It is based on the situation and where it came from," I added as I remained calm while fighting the urge to breakdown.
There are so many of us who think that in a relationship, the one who broke up with is the one who has the faults and deserves to be blamed. No, because sometimes leaving is the only choice so that no more damage will be created between them.
Everyone can feel pain; everyone can bear the same intensity of pain, but not everyone can handle the pain in the toughest way.
