What does love mean to you

What does love mean to you

What Is Love?

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Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author and educational consultant focused on helping students learn about psychology.

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Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

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What Is Love?

Love is a set of emotions and behaviors characterized by intimacy, passion, and commitment. It involves care, closeness, protectiveness, attraction, affection, and trust. Love can vary in intensity and can change over time. It is associated with a range of positive emotions, including happiness, excitement, life satisfaction, and euphoria, but it can also result in negative emotions such as jealousy and stress.

When it comes to love, some people would say it is one of the most important human emotions. Yet despite being one of the most studied behaviors, it is still the least understood. For example, researchers debate whether love is a biological or cultural phenomenon.

Love is most likely influenced by both biology and culture. Although hormones and biology are important, the way we express and experience love is also influenced by our personal conceptions of love.

How Do You Know?

What are some of the signs of love? Researchers have made distinctions between feelings of liking and loving another person.

Zick Rubin’s Scales of Liking and Loving

According to psychologist Zick Rubin, romantic love is made up of three elements:

Based on this view of romantic love, Rubin developed two questionnaires to measure these variables, known as Rubin’s Scales of Liking and Loving. Whereas people tend to view people they like as pleasant, love is marked by being devoted, possessive, and confiding in one another.

Types of Love

Not all forms of love are the same, and psychologists have identified a number of different types of love that people may experience.   These types of love include:

Robert Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

Specifically, psychologist Robert Sternberg developed his well-regarded triangular theory of love in the early 1980s. Much research has built upon his work and demonstrated its universality across cultures.

Sternberg broke love into three components—intimacy, passion, and commitment—that interact to produce seven types of love.

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
Type of LoveComponents
FriendshipIntimacy
InfatuationPassion
EmptyCommitment
RomanticIntimacy, passion
CompanionateIntimacy
FatuousCommitment, passion
ConsummateIntimacy, compassion, commitment

Is Love Biological or Cultural?

Some researchers suggest that love is a basic human emotion just like happiness or anger, while others believe that it is a cultural phenomenon that arises partly due to social pressures and expectations.

Research has found that romantic love exists in all cultures, which suggests that love has a strong biological component. It is a part of human nature to seek out and find love. However, culture can significantly affect how individuals think about, experience, and display romantic love.

Is Love an Emotion?

How to Practice Love

There is no single way to practice love. Every relationship is unique, and each person brings their own history and needs. Some things that you can do to show love to the people you care about include:

Impact of Love

Love, attachment, and affection have an important impact on well-being and quality of life. Loving relationships have been linked to:

Tips for Cultivating Love

Lasting relationships are marked by deep levels of trust, commitment, and intimacy. Some things that you can do to help cultivate loving relationships include:

Potential Pitfalls

As Shakespeare said, the course of love never did run smooth. No relationship is perfect, so there will always be problems, conflicts, misunderstandings, and disappointments that can lead to distress or heartbreak.

So while love is associated with a host of positive emotions, it can also be accompanied by a number of negative feelings as well. Some of the potential pitfalls of experiencing love include:

While people are bound to experience some negative emotions associated with love, it can become problematic if those negative feelings outweigh the positive or if they start to interfere with either person’s ability to function normally. Relationship counseling can be helpful in situations where couples need help coping with miscommunication, stress, or emotional issues.

History of Love

Only fairly recently has love become the subject of science. In the past, the study of love was left to «the creative writer to depict for us the necessary conditions for loving,» according to Sigmund Freud. «In consequence, it becomes inevitable that science should concern herself with the same materials whose treatment by artists has given enjoyment to mankind for thousands of years,» he added. 

Research on love has grown tremendously since Freud’s remarks. But early explorations into the nature and reasons for love drew considerable criticism. During the 1970s, U.S. Senator William Proxmire railed against researchers who were studying love and derided the work as a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Despite early resistance, research has revealed the importance of love in both child development and adult health. 

Burunat E. Love is not an emotion. Psychology. 2016;07(14):1883. doi:10.4236/psych.2016.714173

American Psychological Association. APA Dictionary of Psychology.

What Does the Word ‘Love’ Mean To You?

Student, Monash University Read full profile

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“Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!”

Moulin Rouge – a movie all about love with their well-known quote, “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return”. The movie perfectly portrays how two people who were not allowed to be together would do everything in their willpower to love each other till they take their last breath.

That’s probably the general view of loving someone unconditionally that you would do everything and anything to be together. However, with over 7 billion people on this planet, not everyone will have the same definition. Love is a very diverse term. Everyone needs it in some way or another, and therefore, everyone has their own definition to what ‘love’ means to them.

Haikal, 12, Romantic, Adventurous

In my opinion, love is not how much you say ‘I love you’ but how much you can prove it’s true. It’s about how patient and kind you are, it does not include boasting, it is not how arrogant and rude you are.

Love means accepting a person with all their failures, stupidities, and their imperfection. For example, love means there is no more busy world, it’s always about priorities. You will always find times you feel the most important about.

So in conclusion, I think love is a variety of different feelings; it’s about accepting someone for who they are and have feelings and do whatever it takes to have their forgiveness or even their heart.

Joseph, 21, Withdrawn Over-Thinker

I don’t believe in love at first sight. Attraction at first sight, yes. Affection at first sight, perhaps. But love?

Love, to me, rests on the same cline as companionship. And companionship is the foundation of love. Respect, understanding, and enthusiasm are the pillars on which this foundation is built – not initial attraction, not initial perception.

I suppose I am, to an extent, a victim of the ‘mere-exposure effect,’ in which a preference for someone or something comes with familiarity. I was close friends with my girlfriend for seven years before ‘asking her out,’ and I truly think that this friendship has served as an excellent point of reference over the last two years.

Therein lies the crux of my contention: love is not the gunshot signaling that the race has begun, but nor is it the feeling of crossing the finishing line. Love is the race – the journey – itself. Cliché? Yeah, sort of, but I do think it holds that the muddy concept of ‘love’ cannot be confined to the claustrophobic space of initial meeting, and this casts heavy doubts over the idea of love at first sight.

I respect but can’t identify with the desire for ‘one night stands’ or ‘wicked hooks,’ or whatever lingo is being used these days to denote seemingly frivolous dealings with a significant (or not so significant) other. It simply isn’t in my personality to consider such physical interaction to be so detached from emotional connection.

Of course, that’s not to say that love is static; it is an ever-changing construct, arbitrarily named and largely blurred at its edges. For some people, love at first sight might both exist and be fruitful, and I’m totally fine with that. In fact, let me make an amendment to my opening statement: I don’t believe in love at first sight for me.

Love exists outside the realm of human relationships, but I think nuanced meaning clouds its existence. I love coffee, I love the fresh air, and I love poetry, but I’m not in love with them.

I am in love with my girlfriend.

Kirsty, 23, Secretly Sentimental

An important element of love is to love yourself. Accept yourself and embrace the parts of yourself that you don’t necessarily like about yourself. This is an important lesson in how to love someone else. If you love yourself, you can be more generous with the love you give to others. You find yourself feeling more fulfilled and more loved than you could possibly imagine. You’ll find yourself smiling at the thought of whoever it is that you find you love. Love means seeing flaws and accepting them as positive traits. You’ll feel a sense of completeness that you never knew you were lacking in the first place, and no matter how long you’ve been apart whether it be hours or months you’ll feel like you’re coming home.

Luke, 21, Avocado Enthusiast

To possess a true love for something, some place, some ideology or someone and feel the reciprocation is often perceived as a final hurdle on a pathway to utopia, ‘a hypothetical place or state of things where everything is perfect.’

If I were to use something as simple as an “avocado” as a representation of any human, object or place capable of being truly loved; love can be defined to me as the feelings you are overcome with when you stumble across one of these wonderful green oval-shaped specimens, one that is of perfect ripeness, far superior to any avocado you’ve found on the shelves before. So flawless that as your knife pierces through the delicate skin effortlessly leaving you two immaculate halves not only does your heart and mind constantly discover new boundaries of excitement but a level of contentedness and satisfaction settles in.

With a little feta cheese to accompany, all spread over the finest sourdough toast, and experienced in your own personal paradise, each bite brings forth feelings of invincibility and superiority that not a thing in the world can overcome the sheer happiness. I love avocados.

Sarah, 14, Open-Minded and Exciting

What is love to me? Love is something unconditional and can’t really be explained in words. Of course, I’ve never experienced it yet, but it’s something I wish to feel in my lifetime.

The best way you can really say it is, it’s a feeling that you can’t shake, no matter how hard you try. The feeling when you love that special someone or something you can never live without. The feeling to need them and protect them.

Love is when you look at that person, and your heart accelerates, you get goosebumps. Every time you touch them you feel the electricity radiating off the both of you. You can never feel selfish with them and sacrifice anything or everything if it means you can be with them for the rest of your life. It’s when that person makes you happy no matter how you’re feeling. No matter the gender, ethnicity or person.

But love isn’t easy, it comes with consequences and sacrifices that if you are willing to make you know you’ve found the right someone/something.

I know very few people who are truly, deeply, and madly in love with each other, and let me tell you every time I see that it gives me the shred of hope that there actually might be someone out there for me.

So that’s what love is to me. How bout you?

Sharvin, 19, Dog Lover

Everyone at a pinnacle point in their life has experienced love regardless if they were loved or have been loved. It’s an inevitable feeling that captures the heart with full on passion, infatuation, and desire. It comes in all sorts of forms like with family, friends or an intimate love. In my experience, love “feels so good but hurts so bad”, I went through many amazing memories of my life with the women I love but at the end, it will either end up a fairytale or just like a wrecking ball being swung at you at immense pace.

My love generally lies in the animal kingdom. Such exquisite creatures roaming on our planet for millions of years and have been proven a predominant significance. Dogs are my favorite, especially pugs, golden retrievers, shih tzu, and corgi’s! I have a pet dog that, in all honesty, feels like another younger sibling. Their presence is a remedy for sadness or stress; they will be there through your ups and downs, which clearly defines the term, “dogs are a man’s best friend”. They may be a little annoying at times when it comes to barking or pooping all over the house but hey they are not as privileged as humans to have an intellect.

Marina, 20, Classic and Eclectic

To me, love is the most powerful thing on this planet. It can make you go crazy, feel every emotion a human ought to feel all mixed together, it can make you sick, and it can also make you feel more alive than anything ever can. Whether it’s loving yourself or loving someone else (or even loving an idea or a thing), it will consume you and make you feel infinite.

To me, I know that love is the greatest thing out there – that without it, we are nothing. Something that pushes you to achieve it, no matter what others say or who stops you. It’s the happiness it can bring you when you’re feeling down and once taken away, that’s when you feel like everything has gone to hell.

To be frank, it is dangerous to love, but it’s a risk you should be willing to take. Love so deeply it overwhelms you. Once you fall in love with something or someone, you’ll know it. Trust me on this. It may take time, but it’ll be worth it. You just need to find your star.

How to Know What It Means to Love Someone

This article was co-authored by Rebecca Tenzer, MAT, MA, LCSW, CCTP, CGCS, CCATP, CCFP. Rebecca Tenzer is the owner and head clinician at Astute Counseling Services, a private counseling practice in Chicago, Illinois. With over 18 years of clinical and educational experience in the field of mental health, Rebecca specializes in the treatment of depression, anxiety, panic, trauma, grief, interpersonal relationships using a combination of Cognitive Behavioral therapy, Psychodynamic therapy, and other evidence-based practices. Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Sociology and Anthropology from DePauw University, a Master in Teaching (MAT) from Dominican University, and a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Chicago. Rebecca has served as a member of the AmeriCorps and is also a Professor of Psychology at the collegiate level. Rebecca is trained as a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist (CBT), a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), a Certified Grief Counseling Specialist (CGCS), a Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional (CCATP), and a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional (CCFP). Rebecca is also a member of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Society of America and The National Association of Social Workers.

There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

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The idea of love surrounds you everyday, blasting from the radio and TV almost constantly. But as anyone who has been in love can tell you, love is not as simple as it often portrayed in the media. What it means to be in love will change from person to person, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some feelings that are common in all kinds of love. While you ultimately need to look inside yourself to find the answers, there are some clues as to what it means to fall in love.

10 People Explain What Love Means to Them

For some people, love can be used to describe almost anything. OMG, I love this iced latte! This sweater is amazing, I love it. But, what about romantic relationships? For couples in long-term relationships, love means loyalty and commitment but for college students in the center of their first real relationship, love may feel messy and complicated.

It doesn’t matter where you fall on the spectrum, whether your love life is blissful or nonexistent, it’s clear that everyone has an opinion on love and what it means in a healthy relationship.

In the hopes of coming to a more collective understanding of love, we asked 10 people in different stages of their relationship to explain what love means to them. Here’s what they had to say (their answers may surprise you).

For People That Are Not in a Relationship, Love is:

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Love is Security

“For me, love is the most secure feeling. Love is having a companion, best friend, lover, partner, sounding board, cheerleader, advisor, and cuddle buddy through every avenue in the journey of life.”

Love is Indescribable

“Love is a sentiment not able to be characterized by words.”

Love is About Give-and-Take

Love is Respect

“To me, a healthy relationship is built on respect for one another. Each person understands the commitment they are making to the other person.”

Love is Being In-Sync

Love is Commitment

“The key to success in a healthy relationship with someone is actually the terrifying but necessary effort of commitment. Being there for someone is what a real relationship needs. When we neglect to put in the effort is when things don’t work out with someone that could have been perfect for us. If you put in that extra effort for someone that can reciprocate it, love can be the greatest feeling one can ever feel.”

For Couples That Have Been Together For One Year or More, Love is:

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Love is Vulnerability

“Because love is scary, it’s basically giving someone a map of all your flaws and imperfections and putting faith in them to not abuse that power. And that can be so beautiful; it makes you do the hardest thing a human could ever do, be vulnerable.”

Love is “Growing Together”

Love is Knowing Your S.O.’s Love Language

“ Loving better comes from knowing what makes the other person happy. For him its back scratches and hugs. For me, it’s a verbal “I appreciate you” or “You look pretty.” No matter what it is, we’ve learned to love each other better because we know what makes each other happy, and we make the effort to find new ways to make each other happy.”

Love is Healthy Communication

Love is Equality

“A healthy relationship, in my eyes, is when two people are equal in a relationship. We equally love, we equally respect, and we equally care.”

For Couples in Long-Term Relationships, Love is:

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Love is Accepting their Flaws

We’re human beings, we’re never going to be the same, but being patient and accepting each other’s flaws is something that never stops us from growing with one another.”

Love is Patience

We aren’t always going to agree. Testing each other’s patience and still coming home to love, kindness, and respect is a feeling I never want to disappear.”

What Is Love?

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In This Article

However, love can be summarized as an intense feeling of euphoria and deep affection for someone or something. This love definition or love meaning might not encompass all the emotions that comprise how it feels when you are in love.

Can abstract emotions such as love be defined in specific terms? Maybe not.

However, there are certain words and actions that fall in the realm of love, while others do not.

Some gestures can be termed love. On the other hand, some other emotions and feelings can be confused for love, but people soon realize that they are not true love. Here is to understanding more about love and the feeling.

What exactly is love?

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If you want to define love in one sentence, love is one of the most profound emotions humans experience. It is a combination of attraction and closeness. The person we feel attracted or close to is the person we are, usually, in love with.

Such a person can be a friend, parent, siblings, or even our pet. Such love is based on a feeling of attraction or affection.

Defining different definitions of love?

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Love can be defined in different ways because there are different types of love. The answer to the question, “What is love for you?” can differ for everyone, depending on the relationship in context.

While this is a more literal definition of the word, love can be defined in many other ways.

How to describe love?

What is love, then? You ask. Love has most often been used as a noun, but in practice, love is a verb. It is about what we do for others and the many ways we make other people feel loved and cared for.

What is the true meaning of love, according to the Bible

What does love mean to you. Смотреть фото What does love mean to you. Смотреть картинку What does love mean to you. Картинка про What does love mean to you. Фото What does love mean to youAs per John 15:9-10, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue you in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”

If you set boundaries and abide by them, there is nothing purer and holier than love. Like God had made certain rules to adhere to, if we do, he loves us absolutely, completely. This is the meaning of ‘what is love.’ According to the Bible, love is pristine and sanctimonious.

However, the first love mentioned in the Bible is not romantic, but paternal love (Genesis 22.) It refers to the unconditional actions that a mother or father is willing to perform for their child. This is also where the idea of love being an action comes into play.

History of love

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Just like most things around the world, love has also seen a transformation over the years and centuries. Love was not always the way we know it now.

Back in the day, love was secondary or not even under consideration when it came to a union between two people. Marriages, which in some cultures and parts of the world are known as the ultimate goal of a romantic relationship, were mostly transactional.

People married based on whether or not the marriage would bring them any benefits in terms of wealth and power.

However, if we look at forms of art such as poetry, it seems that love is an old emotion – something people have been experiencing for a long time.

Elements of love

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Love is a holistic feeling. It involves many elements, words,, and actions which define love. “What is love, and what isn’t?” is a very common question we can find ourselves asking.

Many people may wonder what is the meaning of love in a relationship. The answer lies in the elements of love.

1. Care

Care is one of the primary elements of love.

If we love someone, we care about them, their feelings, and their well-being. We may go out of our way to make sure they are okay, and even compromise and sacrifice our needs and wants to give them what they need.

2. Admiration

Admiration is very crucial in love and relationships.

Admiration can be for their physicality or even for their mind and personality. Liking someone for their external and internal self and respecting their thoughts is an essential element of love.

3. Desire

Desire is both sexual and physical and mental.

Just wanting to spend more time with someone, being around them, and wanting them – are all parts of the desire you feel when you are in love with someone.

What love is not

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As we discuss the elements of love and what is love, it is also important to know what love is not.

We can often confuse some other emotions or feelings for love, but sooner or later, we realize that what we feel for a certain person is not love.

Love is not lust

Despite the phrase “it was love at first sight,” love is not something we feel right away.

Mother nature gives us a big dose of infatuation to get us together initially.

A relationship does not mean you are in love

You may be immensely sexually attracted to your partner, but that does not mean you understand the true definition of love.

If you haven’t developed a base of loving feelings with your partner, you will become bored once the sexual spark dies down.

Love is not instant

How to explain love and relationship?

A loving relationship is not built in a day. The threads of love take time to weave together to form a strong bond.

The one true love

We talk about soul mates, but humans are built with the capacity to love over and over again. Thankfully so, or we would never recover from our high school crush or losing a partner to divorce or death.

12 signs of love

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1. Love is generous

In a truly loving relationship, we give to the other without an expectation of return. We don’t keep an account of who did what for the other. Giving pleasure to our partner gives us pleasure, too.

2. We feel what our partner feels

3. Love means compromise

The real meaning of love in a relationship is to willfully compromise your needs to accommodate your partner’s needs or desires.

4. Respect and kindness

What is true love?

Well, when we love, we act respectfully and kindly towards each other.

We do not intentionally hurt or denigrate our partners. When we talk about them in their absence, it is with such warmth that the listeners can hear the love in our words. We do not criticize our partners behind their backs.

5. We act with ethics and morals

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Our love for the other person enables us to act morally and ethically, both with them and in our community. Their presence in our life makes us want to be better people so that they will continue to admire us.

6. We guard each other’s solitude

With love, we never feel lonely, even when alone. The very thought of the other person makes us feel as if we have a guardian angel with us at all times.

7. Their success is yours as well

When our partner succeeds at something after a long effort, we beam with joy as if we were the winner, too. There is no feeling of jealousy or competition, just pure pleasure at seeing our beloved’s success.

8. They are always on our mind

Even when separated for work, travel, or other commitments, our thoughts drift towards them and what they might be doing “right now.”

9. Sexual intimacy deepens

10. We feel safe

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The presence of love in the relationship allows us to feel protected and safe as if the other person is a safe harbor for us to come home to. With them, we feel a sense of security and stability.

11. We feel seen and heard

Our partner sees us for who we are and still loves us. We can show all our sides, positive and negative, and receive their love unconditionally.

They know who we are at our core. Love allows us to bare our souls and feel grace in return.

12. Love helps fight without fear

What is love all about? It is a sense of security.

If we are secure in our love relationship, we know we can argue and that it will not break us apart. We agree to disagree, and we don’t hold grudges for too long because we don’t like to hold bad feelings towards our partner.

8 types of love

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There are eight different types of love, according to Greek mythology. These include –

1. Family love or Storgy

This refers to the type of love we share with our family – parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, and others.

2. Marital love or Eros

This is the type of romantic love we feel with a partner who we wish to marry or have already married.

3. Love by the principle – Agape

This love is not based on emotions but principles. It is referred to as the love for people we do not like, the love for the unlovable.

4. Brotherly love – Phileo/Philia

As the name suggests, Brotherly love is love for our close ones, who we hold as dear as family. These people, however, are not our family by blood.

5. Obsessive Love – Mania

6. Enduring love – Pragma

Enduring love is the kind of deep, true love that people in long, meaningful relationships experience.

7. Playful love – Ludus

Playful love, also called young love, is what you feel when you think the whole world has conspired for the two of you to be together. This love, however, comes with an expiry date and might die down with time.

8. Self love – Philautia

This is the type of love that has been talked about quite a bit, especially recently. It talks about appreciation and care for yourself before you set out to give it to someone else.

Impact of being in love

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Love is a very powerful emotion. Therefore, it can have both positive and negative impacts on us. These effects of love can range from physical, emotional, and even psychological. True feelings of love can really change us.

The positive impact of love

Love is known to have a very positive impact on our well-being, body, and mind. Some positive impacts of love include –

The negative impact of love

Unhealthy, unrequited love and bad relationships can negatively impact your body, mind, and well-being.

The negative impacts of love can be as follows.

Love and mental health

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The feelings of unconditional love, non-judgment, independence, and security that come with a healthy relationship can boost self-esteem and confidence. It also reduces stress, which is a common denominator for various mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression.

On the flip side, bad relationships that are toxic from the beginning or turn toxic with time can lead to insecurities that develop deeper than just the relationship and affect a person’s mental health and future relationships.

The feelings of not being good enough, not doing things right, being unable to meet expectations can make one feel less of themselves. People leaving without explanations, cheating, and lying can give rise to abandonment issues that last longer than just the relationship.

To further understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy love, watch this video.

How to practice love

As mentioned above, love is an amalgamation of various factors and feelings. To practice love healthily and make the people in our lives feel loved, we have to be open to love.

Having said that, there is no sure-shot step-by-step guide on how to practice love, but these points may help.

How to nurture love

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As much as love is an emotion, a feeling, and happens to evolve naturally, people in relationships must work towards nurturing love.

What is love all about in a relationship?

It is a mix of compassion, care, understanding, and various other factors, which need to be developed over time.

Here are some tips on cultivating love in relationships:

1. Practice love-kindness meditation

The premise of the practice is to think about your loved ones while meditating, focusing on warm feelings, and wishing for their well-being and happiness.

2. Communication

3. Conflict resolution

Fights among couples, or any people who love each other, are almost inevitable. However, how we resolve these fights and conflicts reflects your willingness to nurture love in your relationship.

When people say mean, hurtful things to each other during a fight or do not respect each other when they disagree with them, it could mean that they are not in love.

The love style – What is yours?

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The different styles of love have been coined by psychologist John Lee.

According to the theory, there are three styles of love. These styles of love also align with the types of love mentioned in the article before.

The three styles of love are:

1. Eros

2. Ludus

This style of love is described as being emotionally distant, playing games, and not committing to one relationship. People who follow such a style of love are less likely to commit to one person and can quickly end things with their current partner.

They may also enter new relationships easily and quickly, even before ending the current one.

3. Storge

A mixed style of love

Most people often see themselves in more than one style of love, which is normal. People may also see themselves practicing a mix of all three styles of love.

Why do you love the way you do?

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The answer to that question is quite complex. However, the most suitable answers to “Why do we love the way we do?” are listed below.

1. Personality

Everyone is unique and has a way they live their lives. This comprises their personalities. Some people love too deeply, are sensitive to other people’s needs, and always put their hearts over their heads.

Other people, however, may be practical and rational. For them, unconditional love might be tricky to understand.

2. Life experiences

The way we love can be majorly impacted by our life experiences. People who have seen sour relationships may love too much or maybe too guarded because they do not want to be hurt. How dear someone holds people can depend on their childhood, family, and other experiences while growing up.

For more insights into why we love the way we do, check out this collection of essays by Preeti Shenoy, an Indian writer who shares modern love and dating insights.

How does love change over time?

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Many times, we feel that people around us do not love us the way they used to. We can also wonder if they love us at all, as their expression of love changes drastically.

Some people may also “grow out of love” with each other over time.

This can happen when people and their personalities change drastically over time or when people mistake infatuation or initial attraction for love, only to find out later that love is much deeper than these feelings.

The bottom line

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If you have often asked yourself, “What is the meaning of love in a relationship?”, this article may have given you some insights.

The bottom line is that certain feelings such as care, patience, respect, and others are what is love all about in a relationship.

Factors such as wanting and needing love, how we love, and the importance of love are essential to understand when answering the question “What is love?”

Love is a complex emotion and can differ from person to person. Even if you feel confused about what is love and what it’s like to be in love, you will most likely figure it out with time.

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