The Ship, The Shore, and the One Who Stayed

Witty Banter

So this topic came as a request from one of my amazing readers and they wanted my view on the same. I think everyone around us has been diagnosed with love fever once and worse is if you have the one sided type. Now the question comes whether is this love legitimate and is it wrong to have one sided love? I may not be a love guru who knows the right answer and these are just my point of view. If you have a different point of view, feel free to share as well. 

The Lighthouse that waited

There’s a quiet kind of heartbreak that rarely makes noise — one-sided love. It is seen as a shame by the society to be in one sided love. It doesn’t always come with tears or drama. Sometimes, it arrives gently, like a tide that keeps returning even when the shore offers nothing in return. It’s not the kind of love that gets celebrated. It’s not romanticised in stories. It’s just there— raw, real, and often hidden. 

You become like a lighthouse. Steady. Reliable. You'll shine for someone, hoping they will see your light. You will stand through every storm, through every thick and thin, not asking them to love you- just to notice. But sometimes, they never do. They’re busy sailing toward a different glow. Or maybe they’re too lost in their own storms to even look up.

The Quiet bravery of True Love

Now I am gonna sound insane to many of you but just hear me out. There is irony that sometimes, one-sided love is the truest form of love. Because it’s not rooted in what you receive — it’s about what you give. You’ve seen them. All of them. The beauty, the flaws, the mess, the mystery — and you still choose to love. Silently. Patiently. Fully. And maybe that’s what hurts the most. You offer them something real while they chase illusions. You love them while they love the idea of someone else. You give your whole heart, knowing full well you might get nothing in return. That’s not weakness. That’s courage. I know you may say that such cases of one-sided love are wrong at one end but that is fact that is not true love, that is being blinded by love.

The Veil of Lies woven by love

You waited, telling yourself maybe- maybe the ship is headed your way. So, you shine brighter. You stay awake through every storm. You pour in every ounce of energy you have to guide them. You give — not because they asked, but because you believed. In that moment, you mistook a passing ship as a homecoming ship. You saw direction in their drift. Meaning in their momentary nearness. You thought they’d anchor — but they were never looking to dock. You were not coming for you. They were passing by you. You were not their destination. You were just the light that happened to be there when they needed direction — until they found someone else’s shore. And still, you stood there. Burning silently. Trying to be enough.

We stay in this illusion that they love us back, give ourselves the same false hope every second. This leads to an obsession and crossing of boundaries that makes the whole thing so infamous. I know the ship never docked for you but it doesn't mean that you give yourself up for that ship, use up every ounce of light for them and maybe you are obstructing the ship from reaching its destination. The illusion blinds us. Controls our emotions. Continues to feed us with the false hope every moment. 

Reality is Bitter-Sweet

Now at this point you guys really want to leave cause I am talking gibberish at this moment but just look at it once. One-sided love is indeed real, and it is valid. I know it sounds wrong but it truly is. Love doesn’t require two hearts to exist — it just needs one that dares to feel deeply. To care for someone who may never know or never care back is still love. The depth of your emotion doesn’t vanish just because it’s unreturned. You still are the provider of path to them, you are benefitting someone from your cause. If you keep your flame roaring and help someone without them acknowledging, it doesn't make you weak in anyway. 

But then comes why do we think it is wrong and what all of you want to actually hear. Loving someone from afar isn’t wrong — until it starts hurting more than it heals. It's like a toxic addiction, gives you the high but at the end kills you from within.

It becomes unhealthy when you lose your sense of self in the process and become dependent on the other person for your decisions. Even if they think you are just a second option, you take them as a priority, just wasting your time and energy. And sometimes the flaws that we accept start to hurt us but we are so blinded that we ignore them.

Sometimes, what begins as pure affection becomes obsession in disguise. When your emotions begin to disregard boundaries — theirs or yours — it’s time to pause. Unspoken love should never evolve into silent suffering. Love should nurture, not consume. Loving someone should never cost you your dignity, your time, or your peace of mind. If it does — it’s not love anymore. It’s longing with no place to land.

You are not a Fool- You are a Flame

I know that the whole track got changed in the last few moments but remember that to love alone is not to be foolish. It’s to be brave in a world that often chooses numbness. But don’t confuse loving someone silently with being unworthy of love in return. The right person won’t just admire your light — they’ll walk toward it, they’ll stay, they’ll build something beside it. You don't need to be someone's second thought or comfort zone. You need mutual recognition. You need someone who will actually understand you without you telling anything. So if you’re loving from a distance, wondering if it’s legitimate — yes, it is. But also know when to stop. Know when it’s time to turn that love inward and walk back into your own light. You are not just a lighthouse. You are the whole coastline. And someone out there is searching for home.

Not all one-sided love ends in heartbreak. Sometimes, it quietly becomes your teacher.
It might push you to grow — to become more patient, resilient, or self-aware.
Loving someone, even from a distance, can help you understand what it means to love deeply — including learning how to love yourself. That kind of love can inspire. It can make you want to become better — not for them, but for yourself. But there’s a difference between being inspired by love and being blinded by it. True love doesn’t control or consume you — it helps you see more clearly. It strengthens you, instead of making you feel small. So yes, one-sided love is real and sometimes beautiful — but only if it helps you find yourself, not lose yourself. 

So, remember you are not someone's unfinished story- you are a chapter waiting to be read by the right heart.

Before I go and complete this blog, I wanted to present a short poem written by me:

You are the sun- too bright to hold,

But still I fly, I have been told,

The wings like mine will never last,

Our love might burn me too fast.

But even scorched, I would chase your light.

To fall for you still feels so right.

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