The hardest word in the human vocabulary to definitively define: LOVE!
There are many times in life when something comes up and while it may not be what you had planned, you still feel a need to bring it to the forefront. I was not planning on talking this week about love, however, due to some questions that were brought up, I thought I'd share some interesting points/theories I have. When a child asks a parent what is love, it's almost an impossible question to answer. It's easy to answer if you're currently in love: how you feel, how that person makes you feel, how you feel about that person, etc. To give an absolute definitive definition for what love is for everyone, at every stage of their life, is impossible. We love differently as we age, as we go through experiences, as we change. We love friends differently than family, whom we love differently (your love for your child is probably different than that of your parent).
Now, when your child asks what love is, the chances are they aren't asking because they want to know whether they love you or not, but whether they love "someone special". This is a beautifully terrifying time in a parent's life. It means they are truly growing up (again both beautiful and terrifying). It's easy to explain what love is based on what you currently associate love with. It's probably what every parent has done since the beginning of time. My question is, how accurate is it, how relatable is it to this maturing young adult. It's easy to look back at past "loves" and write them off as crushes because they don't meet our new "definition" of love. Yet, if you truly dig deep and try to remember back then, how you felt, that core feeling (the one where you can't place a title on it), is probably the same as it is now. It's just simply that life is probably more complex: needs outweigh wants, risks outweigh rewards, we've as adults matured (if you call all that maturing - lol).
Love is a feeling, it is something without definition. It is as different for me as it is for you. It is different for me than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. The love for my daughters is different than the love for my fiance, which is different than the love for my parents, etc. Doesn't mean the degree of love I have for any particular person is more or less than another, it is just simply different. While the definition I've given love throughout my years has changed, that core feeling hasn't. When you love someone "you" just know. When there is an overwhelming feeling that you can't perfectly explain, no matter how hard you want to or try, there is a really good probability that you are in LOVE!
