In my mind, the part of me that makes the attempt to think rationally, I don't give Bachelor Brad and his young fiancé, Emily, much of a chance. How could I? Even if they had already walked down the aisle, vowed their vows and were bound by holy matrimony they would have less than a fifty-fifty chance at success. In their case, they have not done any of that.
In addition they have been subject to stresses and distractions that most relationships would not survive and nor possibly relate to. They don't live anywhere near each other. Their lives are constantly scrutinized. They have no privacy and they have people, like me, doubting their chance of survival. They will most certainly be available on the singles circuit soon.
In my heart, the part of me driven by challenge and adventure, I know they can make it. No one gave Trista and me a chance either. We had challenges, though perhaps not at the level that Brad and Emily do. Adversity brought us closer. We grew together. We were burned by our mistakes but lived to fight another day and continue follow our hearts as we raise our kids and build our family. The component of our relationship that allowed us to overcome the negative energy and the odds was our acceptance of the challenge.
Though others doubted our chances, we never did. We never worried about what would happen if we didn't make it. Trista, a sun loving city girl, moved to Vail, Colorado, a winter-dominated small town. She never looked back. She never said, "what if." We both felt the sting of the media and the people whose lives are apparently given value by the degradation of others. We both felt the doubters. We simply didn't listen.
Brad and Emily have the same choice. They have similar challenges. They face some pretty staggering odds. We all do. They probably won't make it. Truly, none of us has much of chance at love. The obstacles are great and they are powerful. Our minds our easily convinced and influenced by doubt. An attempt to rationalize love, to find a guaranteed path to relationship bliss, is impossible. Love is a challenge that will only be conquered through the actions of the heart. It is a risk to be sure, but one most certainly worth taking.
Will Brad and Emily make it? Will any of us? Only if we are willing to take the risk...
-- Ryan Sutter