Jennifer Lopez is thriving, and she isn't shy about sharing it.
J.Lo is in one of the best moments of her life, she shared in a recent interview with People. Not only are her film and music careers hotter than ever, but she's found happiness in her relationship with Ben Affleck.
Now Jennifer is opening up about how she and Ben came to this place and what their future holds.
Jennifer Lopez is big about being grateful for the happiness in her life right now.
"I've never been better," she shared.
"It's just that we're all in a very beautiful moment."
Jennifer didn't shy away from discussing happiness with Ben Affleck.
"I feel so lucky and happy and proud to be with him," she said of the rekindled relationship.
"It's a beautiful love story that we got a second chance."
Jennifer and Ben were happy together in their relationship from 2002 to 2004. When thinking about why they called it quits, she believes the high-profile nature of their pairing, infamously nicknamed "Bennifer," introduced a lot of complications.
"Before we kind of put [our relationship] out there and we were naïve and it got a little trampled," she noted.
"We both were like, 'Wow, we're so happy and we don't want any of that to come into play again,'" she continued.
"We're older now, we're smarter, we have more experience, we're at different places in our lives, we have kids now, and we have to be very conscious of those things. We're so protective because it is such a beautiful time for all of us."
Of course, they understand their joint star power makes it impossible to keep the whole thing under wraps, but these days the couple is more selective about what they say and who they say it to.
"I just feel very happy and lucky to be in a relationship that's happy and loving, and I want to do everything I can to protect that and keep it safe," Jennifer said.
"It deserves that, it really does. … We hold it sacred."
"It's beautiful the way it feels very different than it was years ago. … There's more of an appreciation and a celebration for it, which is nice," Jennifer shared.
"When you find somebody and you really, really love them and you get a second chance at that? That is a really rare, precious, beautiful thing and we don't take it for granted."
One of the elements of their relationship that didn't exist in its first iteration is the blending of their kids.
"I honestly believe that love rules all. Love always conquers everything — relationships, kids, work, work relationships," Jennifer said of the process.
"It's all about how loving, open and accepting you can be. Not having an ego about things and just embracing all the good, always looking at the positive. When you're in a good, healthy relationship, everybody benefits from that. Everybody."
Jennifer also commended all the hard work Ben has done on himself in the years since they were last together.
"I'm so proud of him, I'm so proud of the man he's become that I've watched from afar. Being honest with each other, being loving, that's just the basis of everything," she said.
"I feel like he's at a place in his life where — just like how I feel about myself — it's been a journey of learning yourself and figuring yourself out, getting to a place where you feel really good on your own and who you are so you can be in a happy, healthy relationship."
"To see the person, the human being, the man that he is today, the father that he is today, the partner that he is — he is so everything I always knew he was and wanted to be," she gushed. Jennifer also talked about how she hopes her children can learn from her life that love can look so many different ways.
"What I can teach my children is that real love exists," she says. "Some things can be forever, but it doesn't mean they just have a straight line."
Jennifer shared that there was a "cathartic" element to filming her new rom-com, Marry Me. The film follows her character, who marries a stranger (Owen Wilson) after getting cheated on by her fiancé (Maluma). As for her own future, she's looking ahead and hoping for happiness.
"I just want my future to be full of love and happiness, with my children and my partner," she said.
"I think everybody just wants to be happy, with somebody to go on the journey with and grow old with, and I feel good about that right now."
