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WHAT IS LOVE?

If you've ever been head over heels in love with someone, you will at some time have
compared the feelings with those of addiction. As it turns out, scientists are discovering that a
similar chemical process takes place with addiction that takes place when we fall in love. Love
is a chemical state of mind that is part of our genes and influenced by our upbringing.

Throughout the history of mankind, we as a world culture have made love out to be mysterious,
complex, difficult, and beyond definition. Maybe there’s a fear that if we define it, it would
somehow be less powerful... less exhilarating.

Maybe we like the mystery of it. But is it really that complicated? Perhaps the complications
surrounding love come from all the “stuff” we add on to this powerful emotion.

Romantic love both exhilarates and motivates us. It is also critical to the continuation of our
species. Without the attachment of romantic love, we would live in an entirely different society
that more closely resembled some of those social circles in the animal world. The chemicals that
race around in our brain when we're in love serve several purposes, not least of which is the
continuation of our species. Those chemicals are what make us want to form families and have
children.

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.

Concern You unselfishly want the best for them.
Acceptance Loving despite the presence of any faults.
Responsibility Making decisions in their best interests.
Integrity Honest and truthful with each other.
Nurture Wanting the best for them wanting nothing in return.
Giving More than any other relationship, enter it to give rather than 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.

The 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.