Deborah, thank you for your insightful comments about the meaning of true love.
But what if we truly love someone and know that it would be very hurtful to them to know about our history of supposed true loves of ours?
And as to your question re. why do some of us give up on love, personally I have never given up on love in a world which is so full of hatred for anyone seen as other than us, because love is the only way for us all together to save this so troubled world of ours today.
Your question, which represents a situation that is all too common, suggests that the object of one's love doesn't fully reciprocate the feeling or is unsure of their own place in the relationship.
there's nothing wrong with romance. Because love is both knowing who you are and finding out who someone else is. All the nots, I know, or some of them anyway, but real love is curiosity, not demand, faithfulness and patience.
"We dare to open up and reveal to another human being who we really are." In order to do this, we must first come to know who we really are and be comfortable with ourselves without being complacent about our development. Once one has accomplished that, even in part, one never gives up on the idea of love because finding the appropriate complementary partner opens up even greater horizons for self-development and expansion of the loving relationship. It is a very rare but never ending cycle of growth and reinforcing partnership.
I think it's also important to separate love from romance. Love is real, romance is a fairy tale that young girls are raised on and it's reinforced by videos, tv, magazines and movies. Generally, males aren't subjected to this indoctrination, therefore females are disappointed when males don't act "romantically" and they don't recognize the differnence between love and romance. Romance is a cruel hoax that serves to keep love from happening. I don't want a "romantic" evening with my wife, I want a loving evening with my wife. When I was single, I was looking for love, not some fairy tale romance, and the women who wanted romance were shallow and had no interest in committment beyond what they could get out of it. Up with love, down with romance.
True love is when you can give of yourself without losing yourself.
Love is hard. Letting your guard down, opening up, and sharing is giving someone else the power to nurture or wound. It is not done easily.
Deborah, thank you for your insightful comments about the meaning of true love.
But what if we truly love someone and know that it would be very hurtful to them to know about our history of supposed true loves of ours?
And as to your question re. why do some of us give up on love, personally I have never given up on love in a world which is so full of hatred for anyone seen as other than us, because love is the only way for us all together to save this so troubled world of ours today.
Your question, which represents a situation that is all too common, suggests that the object of one's love doesn't fully reciprocate the feeling or is unsure of their own place in the relationship.
there's nothing wrong with romance. Because love is both knowing who you are and finding out who someone else is. All the nots, I know, or some of them anyway, but real love is curiosity, not demand, faithfulness and patience.
RE: Love
To loosely paraphrase a certain Supreme Court justice from decades past, I may not know how to define it, but I recognize it when I feel it.
Beautifully written Deborah, thanks.
"We dare to open up and reveal to another human being who we really are." In order to do this, we must first come to know who we really are and be comfortable with ourselves without being complacent about our development. Once one has accomplished that, even in part, one never gives up on the idea of love because finding the appropriate complementary partner opens up even greater horizons for self-development and expansion of the loving relationship. It is a very rare but never ending cycle of growth and reinforcing partnership.
I think it's also important to separate love from romance. Love is real, romance is a fairy tale that young girls are raised on and it's reinforced by videos, tv, magazines and movies. Generally, males aren't subjected to this indoctrination, therefore females are disappointed when males don't act "romantically" and they don't recognize the differnence between love and romance. Romance is a cruel hoax that serves to keep love from happening. I don't want a "romantic" evening with my wife, I want a loving evening with my wife. When I was single, I was looking for love, not some fairy tale romance, and the women who wanted romance were shallow and had no interest in committment beyond what they could get out of it. Up with love, down with romance.