What is love?

[Shugo54]

[quote name='Adahn]I wholeheartedly disagree. I think the opposite is true, but with a slight change. [b]Anyone you'd live for, you love.[/b] Any person can give up his/her life, but does anyone stop and think about how the person you love feels? If you truly love them, and they love you, you'd be willing to do anything to live for them. Making them happy is your sole motivation in life, and dying for them will cause them the greatest pain ever. If one of us [b]HAD [/b']to die, and the other would have to go on living, I would suffer the burden of life without her.[/quote]
[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]I agree with Adahn. If you truly love someone your one true goal in life would be to make them happy..even at the expense of your unhappyness. I have a special someone That I love dearly. I live only for her. I am suicidal and I always think of dying...but then I remember her and how unhappy she would be if I died. I dont care about my family or anyone else..I only care about her. She is the one that keeps me in this world. So Then I would Define Love as something magical. Most people believe that just saying "I love You" is enough. Some people might lose faith in Love because they have never felt it.Many think Love is stupid....They are just ignorant. Love heals everything...that might sound stupid but it truly does heal. Love brings happyness. One might confuse Love with Infatuation. Most people make that mistake. An infatuation is fake. It might feel like love but it is nothing like that. If one has an infatuation they will get hurt when they leave them..everyone will get hurt if their partner left them..but those with infatuations are selfish and get mad at the one that hurt them. Those who are truly in love will find the truth and happyness in their despair. It is really hard to explain because it is something undescribable. That is all I have to say.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[...]

[quote]Do you really think that there is someone out there for everyone? Like a soul mate, perhaps? And that you have to just open your eyes and see? Like it could be that person living next door, or someone you met on a trip by chance? Do you think that fate and destiny have their roles in it as well?[/QUOTE]

I do believe there is always someone for somebody in this world... you really just have to open your eyes. Do I believe in a one and only? Well this question often proves tricky. Because on one hand, you have those answering this question when they are in love. Those people more than likely (and I'm not saying all of them) will feel there is only one person out there. Because they have found that one person, and cannot believe in finding love again... understandably so. When you're in love, no one else comes into view... the thought of another just simply doesn't exist.

But on the other hand, you have those answering the question when they [i]are not in love[/i] or have [i]lost out on love.[/i] These ones will say that there is always another love out there. There is never just one. As for me, I am one of those people who feel there is only one person for you... because I have found that person. Again, does this make me right, and those wrong? No... but because I am in love, I cannot possibly feel that there is another out there for me. The thought of losing that one special person is the furthest thought from your mind.

And as for the question of Fate... I don't believe in destiny. Because that belief contradicts itself.... completely. The thought of a predestined future would mean there was a creator with an original plan for each human. (And I believe in a creator...) But then, if that creator already has our life planned out, why do we live and make our own choices? Again, there is no fate. There is fortunate circumstances... coincidences... but I don't believe there is a "meant to be"

Well those are My thoughts for the day :D

[Sinistra]

[COLOR=DarkOrchid][FONT=Palatino Linotype]All of your answers, indeed, are correct. But they also prove my point as to say that you can't boil it down to just one thing. Love is one of those exceptions that cannot be "truely defined". And so each individual has their own meaning.

So really, love is what it is to you. It's just up to each person to find their own meaning for it. And when they do, they have just fulfulled another one of life's greater accomplishments in some sense.

In response to my own questions, I personally believe that there is no soul mate for each and every single person, there are those however that just happen to find that person that they believe to be the one they'll love forever. Soul mate is merely a word to intensify the meaning of a life partner.

However, the first question does back up the second. There are those people that find love in the most obscure of places. Like such examples mentioned, I almost think that it's kind of creepy.

Fate, Destiny? No, I don't think that they exist for what "..." said. Fate and Destiny contradict themselves to the point beyond believeable and land right on confusion.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Sara]

[color=#ff6600]I do believe that kids--yeah, even the twelve and thirteen-year-olds who come to OB desperately asking for advice--know what love is. Let me qualify--they know what love is [i]to them, at that point in their lives.[/i]

It's a dynamic concept. It changes as you grow up, as you mature, as you fall in and out of it, as you watch others and their experiences, as you live your own experiences.

Can an 18-year-old possibly comprehend a 40-year-old's definition of love? Of course not. Can even a 20-year-old capture the thrill and innocence of being in love for the first time at age 13? Nope.

As several have pointed (and repointed) out, there are dozens of reasons why this thread is subjective. What Jun-Woo just said: "[color=darkviolet]All of your answers, indeed, are correct. But they also prove my point as to say that you can't boil it down to just one thing. Love is one of those exceptions that cannot be "truely defined". And so each individual has their own meaning.[/color]" is true.

You shouldn't tell someone that they aren't really in love. Don't tell someone they don't know what "real love" is. If someone says he is in love, at that moment, at that point in his life, he is in love. He may look back in six months and wonder what on earth he was thinking. He may not. But...it's not your place to contradict him.

I wonder if that came out right at all.

make your mark heavy and dark,
Sara [/color]

[Sinistra]

[QUOTE][FONT=Palatino Linotype]Originally posted by [B]Lore a.k.a Sara[/B]
[I]If someone says he is in love, at that moment, at that point in his life, he is in love. He may look back in six months and wonder what on earth he was thinking. He may not. But...it's not your place to contradict him. [/I][/FONT][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][FONT=Palatino Linotype]Sara, you mentioned that you didn't know if that came out right. I think it did. What you are saying is totally true. Allow me to elaborate.

My friend was recently going out with this guy that I thought was totally wrong for her. I did warn her of what I thought he was, and she went along with him anyway. I knew that it wasn't my place to stop her, so I didn't.

Their relationship lasted three weeks and she was upset about it. She, of course, came crying to me for advice.

I didn't let her have it and say: "I told you so." but instead I just said: "Well now you know."

She took it a lot better after talking with me. So you see, Sara, what you said is perfect. This, after all, is a tricky topic to discuss.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[elfpirate]

[QUOTE=Lore][color=#ff6600]I do believe that kids--yeah, even the twelve and thirteen-year-olds who come to OB desperately asking for advice--know what love is. Let me qualify--they know what love is [i]to them, at that point in their lives.[/i]

It's a dynamic concept. It changes as you grow up, as you mature, as you fall in and out of it, as you watch others and their experiences, as you live your own experiences.


[b][color=black]I agree. When you are a child, you love in a childish way, but it is still love.[/color][/b]
[b][color=#000000][/color][/b]
[b][color=#000000]As you mature, so does your personal definition of love, but that does not mean that it becomes any more real than it was when you were younger- the concepts and dynamics simply shift to accommodate the way that a person thinks about things as they mature.[/color][/b]
[/color]

[CowboyRocker]

Love is the very escence of our being without love we have time for everything else but love Im not sure if love is worth just throwing away to have time because with love you have everything without the time

[Annie]

[color=darkslateblue]Wow, I really enjoyed seeing all of the book definitions of "love". Heh, not. Everyone has their own outlook on love, their own opinions, their own feelings. Love is different from everyone, yet it is the same. Odd to explain, as it's kind of like its own contradiction. But love is love, it doesn't matter how old someone is, what gender they are, what way the express it. It can come at a young age, granted it may not be the same type of love an elder person would describe it.

I find love to be able to tolerate someone for a long amount of time. When you leave that person's presence, you crave for that person. Where you can actually sit down and think about a future with a person, and not be frightened; instead, you cannot wait for that day to come. Where you and a person have never really met, but you continue on with a relationship that has been seperated by 1,982.2 miles for nearly two years...and still the feelings beat stronger with each passing day. And during this time, and distance, you remain loyal; and the person expresses nothing but dedication, honesty, and loyalty in return.

Do I believe in soul mates? I very much do. To use an anology, I see a soul as a puzzle. There's always that one piece you can't find to fit into that one spot. You spend a long time looking for that piece; it drives you crazy to see that spot open and empty. But then one day, you find that one piece (your special someone). You place it in that empty space, and the puzzle is complete; creating a beautiful picture. That's how I see it. It just makes more sense to me, because if you lose that one piece of the puzzle, the picture is incomplete and begins the search for that piece; and that piece only. No other oddly shaped piece will do, it has to be [b]the[/b] same piece.

That sort of explains my outlook on love as well. Corny? Perhaps to other people, but..that's me.

By the way, everytime I see this thread's title, I'm forced to think of that silly song.[/color]

[dMage]

[COLOR=Green][FONT=Arial][QUOTE]Do I believe in soul mates? I very much do. To use an anology, I see a soul as a puzzle. There's always that one piece you can't find to fit into that one spot. You spend a long time looking for that piece; it drives you crazy to see that spot open and empty. But then one day, you find that one piece (your special someone). You place it in that empty space, and the puzzle is complete; creating a beautiful picture. That's how I see it. It just makes more sense to me, because if you lose that one piece of the puzzle, the picture is incomplete and begins the search for that piece; and that piece only. No other oddly shaped piece will do, it has to be the same piece.[/QUOTE]

All I can say is that is probably one of the best analogies I have ever heard to what a soulmate is. It hits the nail on the head like nothing else I've heard before.

As for the rest, well, I think that all of the inputs and views seem to do love justice. Like some many have said, love is dynamic and ever changing, yet it is a ocnstant that most of us need to survive and to also live a healthy and satisfying life. It is the essence IMHO of life and happiness.

baby don't hurt me, no more.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Annie]

[QUOTE=dMage][COLOR=Green][FONT=Arial]

All I can say is that is probably one of the best analogies I have ever heard to what a soulmate is. It hits the nail on the head like nothing else I've heard before.[/color][/font][/quote]

[color=darkslategray]Thank you. [/color]

[quote name='dMage][color=green][font=arial]As for the rest, well, I think that all of the inputs and views seem to do love justice. Like some many have said, love is dynamic and ever changing, yet it is a ocnstant that most of us need to survive and to also live a healthy and satisfying life. It is the essence IMHO of life and happiness.[/color'][/font][/quote]

[color=darkslategray]I'll agree that love changes over time and as you mature. Love at the age of fifteen will be different than love at the age of twenty. Kind of like whine; the older it gets, the better the taste and texture.[/color]

[quote name='dMage][color=green][font=arial]baby don't hurt me, no more.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]

[color=darkslategray]XD You read my mind.[/color]