What is Love?

There are a variety of opinions here, but I've come up with my own
theory. I believe that "love" is both cumulative and accumulated through a
series of emotions. Love can be seen as cumulative because when we
meet someone we "develop" feelings for them. With success, our
compatibility will lead our thoughts to develop a positive image of the
person. Along with this comes the variety of emotions we develop such as
affection, sensitivity, trust, loyalty. Of course with luck (and God's help)
these emotions over time sustain themselves which leads me to the
sustained, or accumulated emotions. Over time, our emotions are
solidified and amplified. Of course the prior does not explain how we
show how we "truly" love someone but usually the measurement of our
love is our behavior towards the person whom is being loved.

The fact that we show a behavior "not typical" of a friend which reflects
more affection, and passion is usually our gauge for "love" of the person.
I choose not to include loyalty because loyalty cannot be measured in
degrees. It's black and white. You are either loyal or not. The same can be
said for trust as well, you either trust the person or you don't. Of course
one can make the argument of wariness of trust, but when it comes to
love trust is absolute and even if one is wary of the person this is part of
the cumulative process of love. We cannot semi trust someone and say we
love them. We either trust them or not.

I can take love as how my friends take it. "Love is like biter beer, you have
to have an acquired taste to enjoy it."

For those who hold love as undefinable the theory still holds since we
define our love for someone as part of our emotion it is still categorized
in this theory. Love in it of itself is not abstract from ourselves it is apart
of our emotions. In essence it is what we've developed.

Edited by Israfil

Israfil wrote: My above theory doesn't contradict my earlier post since "love" is a choice that we make when partaking in our marital relationships. Our even before marriage it is something that we choose to develop.

What happens with the saying "can't help feeling the way we/I do"

does true love mean u have to be with the person forever, is it not possible to experience love that is true for only a brief time. what does true love have to do with the amount of time u spend with the person.

two people can live unhappily together for years making each other miserable, as opposed to 2 others who share a brief encounter. will the former be true love cos of the duration of time spent togther. i dont agree with that line of thinking.

There are many kinds of love.  What I am describing is romantic or emotional "love", which becomes something much more.  I believe many times we confuse "love" with infatuation.  Infatuation is that "oh my gosh, I've got to marry him/her or I'll just absolutely die" type of feeling.  After a period of time it dies down.  Even if we do marry this person we "just can't live without", we lose that immense passion we felt in the beginning of the relationship....and we're supposed to.  What happens is we enter into a much deeper emotion....the real, true, and everlasting feeling we have named "love".  We develope great respect and admiration for that person.  Putting their feelings above our own many times.  As time goes by in the land of true love, usually after we have been married for some time, we find great peace and happiness just being with that person, because now we have "bonded" and we are very much connected emotionally to one another.  This is how it is meant to be......and it's wonderful.  It's not now all about s-x....it's much deeper than that.  Once you really find it, you don't have to ask.....you know.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Peace and Joy to All.