There are some single people who meet the right person for them when they are young, but they understand the one they love is not really ready to settle down. They watch them walk away, and many believe they will find someone else. Those who aggressively go about finding someone to share their life can be quite successful, but there are also a few who carry an enduring flame for their first love. They might spend years waiting for them to return, and it could be a lifelong hold. Others could reconnect at a future time.
Carrying a torch for another person over the years can become a habit, and it is this stultifying way of life that can keep someone from finding a new relationship. Rather than exploring the possibilities, they continue to unrealistically hope the one they love will return. It can be heart-breaking for their loved ones to watch them suffer, but there might be nothing more they will be able to do to get them back on a dating track.
Dreaming about love and finding it are two distinct things, and a person who has lost the love of their life must realize they have to move on. While it seems romantic for someone to wait years and even decades for their love to come back, it can be a lonely and isolating way to live. Finding love is about progressing through the stages of a relationship, and there is often more than one person able to fulfil that role.
Watching someone carry their love for someone who has left to the extreme is hard on friends and family, and it could take professional help to push them out of their daydream of a return. For those who have their love return after years have passed, there is still no guarantee a relationship will be offered.