The meaning of love is complex.
It is a mixture of emotional reactions, behavior, and beliefs associated with a strong sense of affection, protectiveness, warmth, and respect for another person caused by a combination of feelings.
A person can also use the word love to refer to non-human animals, principles, and religious beliefs. One individual may say they love their dog; one may say they love freedom, or one may say they love God.
WHAT IS LOVE?
The subject of love has been a favorite topic of philosophers, poets, writers, and various groups and individuals who have often fought each other over the definition of this concept.
Many people agree that the word love implies strong feelings of affection. However, there are many disagreements over the exact meaning of the word, and one person’s version of the phrase “I love you” may mean something quite different from another’s.
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Love can be defined in many different ways, including the following:
There is a willingness on the part of the individual to put the good of the other above their happiness.
The individual feels an intense sense of attachment, affection, and need.
There has been a sudden and dramatic sense of attraction and respect between two people.
It’s a fleeting feeling of affection, care, and love that comes and goes.
An individual chooses to help, respect, and care for others, for example, when they get married or have children.
There may be a combination of the above emotions.
Many people have taken a personal interest in whether love is a choice, a permanent or a fleeting emotion, and whether love between family members and partners is biologically conditioned or culturally indoctrinated. It is important to note that love can vary from one person to another and from one culture to another. Each debate about love may be accurate at some point in time and place. Love can be controlled in some cases, while it may appear that one cannot control it in others.
LUST VS LOVE
It can be tricky to tell the difference between love and lust, which is particularly true in the early stages of a relationship. Both love and physical attraction are characterized by intense feelings of physical attraction, an intoxicating rush of feel-good chemicals, and an overwhelming desire to be closer to another person. Still, only one of these feelings lasts for a very long time: love.
Love is indeed something that is nurtured between two people over time as you get to know each other better and experience life’s many ups and downs together, and it is something that grows over time. There is a commitment to it, a commitment to time, a commitment to mutual trust, and an acceptance of it.
On the other hand, it is used in the context of sex-driven sensations that initially draw people toward one another and is driven primarily by the desire to procreate to satisfy their sexual desires. It is fueled by sex hormones and infatuation, often characterized by romantic passion.
The sexual desire for Steve is waning in Lana, for instance. Lana is committed to Steve, and her passion for him is waning. Although she loves and cares for him, she feels restless and dissatisfied with their physical relationship. Unsurprisingly, she experiences immediate feelings of attraction and longing when she meets Brendan after the first encounter.
Although she knows nothing about this man but how he makes her physically feel, the chemical messengers in her brain begin sending signals to pursue him, even though she knows nothing about him except how he makes her feel in his presence. There is no time for her to work on improving intimacy with her current partner in place of lust for having someone new in her life.
Some might deem it ideal to have a balanced combination of lust and love within an intimate relationship. As it is, lusting after someone is a natural part of the early stages of a long-term relationship. For couples committed to one another, reigniting that initial spark might be one of the best practices they can adopt.
LOVE AND MENTAL HEALTH
Almost nobody can agree on a single definition of love. Still, most people are inclined to agree that love plays a significant role both physically and psychologically in the lives of individuals. Love has been proven to be beneficial in many studies that have been conducted. There are many examples of how love has a profound effect on our mental health, but here are a few:
This can be seen by the fact that babies who do not receive care and affection from their parents through frequent holding and cuddling may suffer from depression or ill health during their development.
A feeling of being unloved is strongly related to feelings of low self-esteem and depression as well as low self-esteem.
A person who feels loved by others as well as who reports loving other people, tends to be happier in general.
Emotional connection can improve one’s immune system in the long run, and love can play a role in improving health in the long run.