Love
"We are shaped and fashioned by what we love."
— Goethe
So, who doesn't want more love? And, whose definition of hope, faith, goodness, peace, or grace does not include "love"? Still, can we say we really know what love is, in a society where people "love" everything — money, drugs, beer, Barbie dolls, sports, sex, gourmet dining, chocolate? Is that really love? Does loving something (or someone) make it right, good, or true? Is finding acceptance in another's arms "love," or merely compensation for having lost part of ourselves somewhere along the way in life? Are we so desperate for love that we enter relationships with those who do not have our own best interests in mind, who bring us a lot of pain and suffering? It happens every day.
Some people say that love is the answer to all problems. Despite all the popular songs, all the pop psychologists, and all the "love" doctors, there is very little true love in this world. What commonly passes for love is romance, lust, sex, acceptance, approval, agreement, sympathy, ego, emotion, similar conditioning, family ties, possessiveness, nationalism, fantasy, desire, dependence, hurt, attachment, obsession, illusions, and delusion. None of these is love. John Ciardi noted, "Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the old."
In our society, where words are often used to mean the opposite of the truth, what many people call "love" — love of their country, their political ideology, their race, their culture, or themselves — is actually contempt for those they feel are unlike them. Such people have no idea what real love is.
Love is not just an emotion, and emotional love is not true love. True love is an inner spiritual quality, which is not found in everyone. Many people simply do not have love to be able to share love. This is a commonly suppressed truth about society. But, would it not have saved you a great deal of suffering or despair if you had known the truth about love when you were young? Society promotes your ignorance, so that you will fall into the traps that await you. Popular songs (promoted by adults) inform young people that whatever feels good is "love." But that just isn't so.
How many people find themselves in unsatisfactory, abusive, or unloving relationships, including marriage? How many go from one relationship to another, hoping to find the love that they cannot find within themselves, in someone else? How many people "love" only one special person — who can see no wrong in them? Is this true love? No. These are typical illusions about love: a little bit of love is worth a lot of emotional abuse; your love is the solution to someone else's problems; or their love is the solution to yours. read more ...
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