Whentheconversationcomestolove,italwaysraisethebiggestemotion,reactionandpassion。 But, Whatislove? Loveisthatfeelingyougetwhenyoumeettherightperson。Thisishowmanypeopleapproacharelationship。Consciouslyorunconsciously,theybelieveloveisasensation(basedonphysicalandemotionalattraction)thatmagically,spontaneouslygenerateswhenMr。orMs。Rightappears。Andjustaseasily,itcanspontaneouslydegeneratewhenthemagicjustisn39;tthereanymore。Youfallinlove,andyoucanfalloutofit。 Thekeywordispassivity。ErichFromm,inhisfamoustreatiseTheArtofLoving,notedthesadconsequenceofthismisconception:Thereishardlyanyactivity,anyenterprise,whichisstartedwithsuchtremendoushopesandexpectations,andyet,whichfailssoregularly,aslove。(Thatwasbackin1956chancesarehe39;dbeevenmorepessimistictoday。) Sowhatisreal,lastinglove? Loveistheattachmentthatresultsfromdeeplyappreciatinganother39;sgoodness。 LOVEISACHOICE Iflovecomesfromappreciatinggoodness,itneedn39;tjusthappenyoucanmakeithappen。Loveisactive。Youcancreateit。Justfocusonthegoodinanotherperson(andeveryonehassome)。Ifyoucandothiseasily,you39;llloveeasily。 ACTIONSAFFECTFEELINGS Nowthatyou39;refeelingsowarmlytowardtheentirehumanrace,howcanyoudeepenyourloveforsomeone?ThewayGodcreatedus,actionsaffectourfeelingsmost。Forexample,ifyouwanttobecomemorecompassionate,thinkingcompassionatethoughtsmaybeastart,butgivingtzedaka(charity)willgetyouthere。Likewise,thebestwaytofeellovingistobelovingandthatmeansgiving。 Whiletherearemanydifferentwaystodefineloveandtherearemanydifferentwaystolovesomeone(orevenyourself),hereisageneralguidetoloving。 1。Sayit。WhenyousaythewordsILoveYou,theyshouldcarrywiththemthedesiretoshowsomeonethatyoulovethem,notwhatyousimplywanttofeel。Whenyousayit,makesureyoureallymeanitandarewillingtodoanythingforthatspecialperson。 2。Empathize。Putyourselfinsomeoneelse39;sshoes。Ratherthanimposeyourownexpectationsorattempttocontrolthem,tounderstandhowtheyfeel,wheretheycomefrom,andwhotheyare。Realizehowtheycouldalsoloveyoubackjustaswell。 3。Loveunconditionally。Ifyoucannotloveanotherpersonwithoutattachingstipulations,thenitisnotloveatall,butdeepseatedopportunism(onewhomakesthemostofanadvantage,oftenunmindfulofothers)。Ifyourinterestisnotintheotherpersonassuch,butratherinhowthatpersoncanenhanceyourexperienceoflife,thenitisnotunconditional。Islife,orallowingthatpersontobethemselvesandacceptingthemastheyare,andnotwhoyouwantthemtobe,thenyouarenotstrivingtolovethemunconditionally。 4。Expectnothinginreturn。Thatdoesn39;tmeanyoushouldallowsomeonetomistreatorundervalueyou。Itmeansthatgivinglovedoesnotguaranteereceivinglove。Trylovingjustforthesakeoflove。Rdonotexpecttobelovedbackinexactlythesameway。 5。Realizeitcanbelost。Ifyourealizethatyoucanlosetheoneyoulove,thenyouhaveagreaterappreciationofwhatyouhave。Thinkhowluckyyouaretohavesomeonetolove。Don39;tmakeanidolofthepersonyoulove。Thiswillplacethemunderunduepressureandwilllikelyresultinyoulosingthem。 6。Neverstoploving。Evenifyouhavebeenhurtbeforeyoushouldnotstopgivinglove。 Youmustloveyourselfbeforeyoucanloveanother。Butbeforeyoucanloveyourself,youmustknowandunderstandyourselfprofoundly。Thisdeepunderstandingofyourselfwillautomaticallyleadyoutoloveyourself(sinceyouwillbecomeawareofyourpineessence)andyouwillalsoloveeveryotherpersonatthatsamemoment(becauseyouwillrecognizethatsamepineessenceineveryotherperson)。 TheaboveiswhatIthinkaboutLOVE。