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True love requires you to know a person very well. You must trust that person enough to have other friends of the opposite sex and know that they wouldn’t
do anything with the other person because they love you. This is what usually hurts the most; you lose that person’s trust and respect. A true love cares about
your inner beauty, not just your exterior beauty. It doesn’t lock you up or control you. Love isn’t selfish; it shares you and your qualities with others to enrich
everyone’s lives. The other person believes in you, making you yourself believe you’re capable of that much more.

True love can be defined in one word CARING. “C”=Concern. This relates to an individual’s concern for the other’s well-being. You want the best
for them. Your concern for them is unselfish. “A”=Acceptance. Unconditional love, you love them despite their faults. “R”=Responsibility. You
make decisions about the relationship that will be best for everyone. You think before and after an action and take responsibility for the end result, bad
or good. Remember if someone REALLY loves you they won’t push you into doing anything you don’t feel comfortable with. “I”=Integrity. You are honest
and truthful with the other person in the relationship. You don’t condemn the other person or make them feel bad about themselves. You see them for who
they truly are and love them for it. “N”=Nurture. When you love someone, you want the best for them even if it doesn’t benefit you in any way. Just seeing
them happy makes you happy. You help them grow and mature into the best person he or she can possible be. “G”=Giving. When you give, it involves a
risk. For example, you go up to the other person and tell them you love them, you take a risk because you have no clue what their response will be. Both must
give something to benefit another. In true love relationships more than any other, we should go into them to give rather than to get.

There are many differences between true love and infatuation, but what we all must remember is that we all go through stages in our lives where we think we
are in love and we really aren’t. It’s often said that it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Even I know that, and I have not yet
experienced my life to its fullest. If there is one thing I cannot stress enough, it would be that God will always be there to love each and every one of us, no
matter what.

Essential elements of love

What do you feel when you love someone? If distilled down to its core components, what would those be? Yes, love is an emotion, a feeling, a wanting, and a
“being”. We know it feels good, but what specific feelings, and desires are present when we feel love?

Love is Acceptance.
Acceptance is labelling someone as "okay" and having no desire to change them. Who they are is perfectly fine with you. You pose no condition on whether
you will love them or not. This is unconditional love. When your love IS conditional, the moment they step outside your set of conditions, love evaporates.

Love is Appreciation.
Appreciation is one step beyond acceptance. Its when your focus is on what you like about another. We look at them and feel this sweeping appreciation for
who they are, their joy, their insights, their humour, their companionship, etc. When someone says they are "in love" with another, they mean their
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appreciation is so enormous for this person that it consumes their every thought.