Characterizing Love
Love is a wonderful feeling that transcends all barriers. For example, it can be the cause of you forgiving your partner for being late, allowing yourself to enjoy a creative project, or even dreaming about a promotion. It can also be the reason why you feel devastated when your favorite sports team loses a game. Whatever the case, love has a profound effect on our brains and can enhance our lives.
The Ancient Greek philosophers sought to characterize love. They classified it into four categories: storge, which is a love between family members, phila, which is love between best friends, eros, which is the classic romantic love, and agape, which is the love that we feel for God.
Love is the strongest emotion, but it’s also the most complicated. It means that you have an intense desire for the other person. This desire motivates you to be better than you are now. According to Nina R. and Elise H., love makes you want to be better and to be more generous than you already are.
In addition to having empathy, true love requires that you respect your partner as they are. This means you can empathize with them and work out conflicts and squabbles. True love is a mutual commitment to each other through thick and thin. For this reason, it’s crucial that you have a deep understanding of the other person.