What is Love?

When I was in college, I asked all my friends to define love. I then sent out all the responses on Valentine's Day as my present to them. I just found this email, and thought it was awesome. I have no idea who answered these (I wish I would have kept the names next to them), but I thought the responses were pretty profound for a bunch of 18 year olds...

What is your definition of love?

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It is clearly stated in the Bible. “Love is patient, love is kind...” My little add-on is love is when even if you are angry at a person, you still want to be in their presence. When you are sad, when you are happy, when the greatest thing in the world has happened to you, when your dog dies, when you are sick...you want this person to share it all with you. You feel ultimately happy and satisfied just thinking of this person, and when it’s true love, they feel the same way.

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I think Jesus is the purest definition of love. There are many levels of love. To love someone you see Jesus in them. This is not to be confused with lust. O happy race of men, if love, which rules heaven, rule your minds.

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Well, after giving it some thought, I realized that love is no more than a zero score in tennis. But hey, let me guess that you wanted a different definition. Love is a deep affection for someone, be it sexual, or platonic. Love can be a passion, i.e. Braveheart had the passion = Braveheart had the love. Or maybe in a more physiological sense, love is a need. It is within human nature, mammal nature to love and be loved. Imagine the kitten who is left out of the litter, the kitten ignored by it’s mother. That kitten dies. Superimpose that idea on children, toddlers. The one ignored by the parents, the one with no friends, will cry its little life away and drown within its own tears. That should give you and idea of what love really is. There’s more to it than the generally accepted popular definition.

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My definition would be the feeling you get when you think about spending the rest of your life with somebody and you don’t even mind...its the feeling that makes you go out of your way to do little things just to make the person you love happy.

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I don’t really have an answer to what love is. I know that I love *** because I respect everything he does and is. Does that help at all?

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I think love is something that is shared between two people, and there are no boundaries. You have fun together and can confide in each other, you can fight well, but make up even better. You share a bond that to everyone else is indescribable.

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This is a very good question. Love can be acknowledged by different people at varying stages of a relationship. It is very important to realize that no one completely understands love or what love really is. I personally have the very unpopular belief that love is as much of a verb as an emotion. It is very easy to fall in love with someone, but to actively love someone is very special, and requires more than just some random hormones working in your body.

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Wow, you sure know how to ask them you know? Let me tell you from the start that my knowledge of love is purely Biblical. First of all, you can start by reading 1 Corinthians 13. It defines what love is supposed to be and gives us a guideline as Christians on how to discern it. The entire book of the Song of Songs is an excellent guide to relationships and how they are supposed to be.

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Since I have never been in “love,” I am really not the best person to ask. Even though I have no personal experience, I have always believed that love is something that people do and not what people are in. You can only love another person for everything that they represent. All the goo and all the bad, and if that isn’t possible, then love between those two people isn’t possible.

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Love is whatever you make of it. It can be as simple as a midnight hookup, or as meaningful as marriage. Some people find love in different ways. For me, I know that I love my girlfriend. But only recently have I really fallen in love with her. We've dated for two years, and I’ve always felt "love" when I was with her, but now it's more...real. I don't know it...I feel it. For me, truly being in love with **** means being able to not see her for several days and feel OK with myself. It means being able to disagree with her and not let it ruin our relationship. Being in love means being mature and the capability to be comfortable by yourself.

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Love is when without thinking twice, you give someone your heart and your soul, and you still think they deserve more.

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Love can't be defined. The word Love is just one of mankind's attempts
to exert some control over something that can't, and won't, be
controlled. The way I see it, the word Love is like the word God. It
means something different to everyone, but it's used to represent
something immensely powerful and beyond our complete comprehension.

But, just to show that I don't think that I'm better then the whole of
mankind, I'll take my shot at giving a meaning to the word.

Love is the shortness of breath after you kiss that special someone,
it's the quickening of your heart when that same person walks in the
room. It's the involuntary response of reaching for that person's hand
when, although you're not looking at each other and have no idea where
that person really is, you sense that they're near. It's the person
that you want to give the world to. It's the person that you want to be
everything for. It's the one person that you would change for. Because
they never asked you too.

Love is the what fills the hole in you that you've had your entire life,
but that you didn't realize existed until the one person who can fill it
appears.

That's what Love is.

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Awfully hard question...
Generic Answer:
Friendship: A general feeling of intimacy and compassion towards one another...
Relationships: An undying need for that other person in all aspects...

"The Phone Bill" -- Written when I was 17 in 1996

If there is one thing in the world that I hate the most, it would have to be the phone bill. I hate the anticipation of getting it, I hate the punishment I receive after getting it, and I hate the mere fact that it even exists. Personally, I think a mean old executive in a dark, gloomy office one day, devised the idea of a phone bill just so at least one week of every month would be extracted from every single teenager's life.

Every month, it's the same routine... As my parents are driving me home from school, they stop at the mailbox to innocently get the mail. Little do they know that this minor action sends their teenager who is sitting in the back seat, into sheer and utter terror. As they open the door to the mailbox, the creaking of the hinge sounds as if someone is scratching their fingernails onto a chalkboard. The sound gets louder and louder until my parents pull out the mail and slam the door shut, which now leaves a hollow echo in my mind. Before they drive up the driveway, they sit in the car slowly sorting through the mail, one by one. I can hear my father now,

"Ah, Kathy... another mission wants money, oh boy- the credit card bill, hey! Ed here says I'm a millionaire..."

Just then, as if Satan himself had visited my car at the bottom of that long driveway-- I see it. It's the big envelope about eight inches by six. It's the... (gulp)... phone bill. Immediately, my stomach soars up to my throat and I can taste my peanut butter and jelly sandwich that I had for lunch. Thoughts of those long nights spent on the phone that all seemed so important at the time, now are just instant regret in my mind. My father sees it, smiles his evil grin and says,

"Oh look, sweetie, YOUR phone bill came."

Those words make me cringe. Why must he say, YOUR phone bill? I mean, he could at least say, THE phone bill... but no. My father has to drill it into my skull that every month I am costing the family precious hard earned money by making selfish calls to friends. I hate it.

As the car slowly goes up the driveway, I feel as if I'm in a funeral procession... except that it's MY funeral. The car stops. I get out. As I enter my house, instead of running to the refrigerator and eating the usual snack, I run to my room, and ironically, yes. I make a phone call. I make this call because it is the last one I will make until I am off groundation. This call is much like the one call you get from jail. It is my last chance to communicate to the real world.

Then I hear, "YOUNG LADY!!! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

It had happened. They had opened the (gulp)... phone bill. I slink down the stairs ever so slowly and manage to put an, "I-Love-You-Mom-And-Dad-Ever-So-Much-And-I-Have-Never-Heard-Of-A-Phone-In-My-Life" look on my face. It doesn't work.

"You made $80.00 worth of phone calls in one month young lady! What on EARTH (they like to emphasize earth a lot) were you thinking?! How are we supposed to pay for this?! You are grounded for one month!"

Then I usually say OK, and go to my room. I sit in the silence for ten minutes or so, and do my homework. The next day however, the temptation is so great that I reach over, grab the phone, and dial those forbidden eleven digits. Then a month goes by... we are driving home from school, and we stop to get the mail...

I hate phone bills.