It is one of the most difficult questions for the mankind. Centuries have passed by, relationships have bloomed and so has love. But no one can give the proper definition of love.

Taylor Swift sings about it in all of her songs; Oprah claims that she branded it; and Chris Rock has his version, Rhianna says we all want it. Because, after all;

To love and be loved is the greatest joy on earth.

I talk about Love all the time with my husband (I think most wives do).  He thinks I’m crazy.  But, I live with the dream that we can stay in love forever; if we try.  Obviously, easier said than done with Life pounding on our door and three kids to raise.  Most of the time he laughs at my “absurdity” and tells me that after 8 years of marriage something more than love develops.

This was somewhat of a mystery to me and something I needed to think about; a lot. And, I realized that however much we may want to, we can not command, demand, or disappear love, any more than we can command the moon and the stars and the wind and the rain to come and go according to our whims. We may have some limited ability to change the weather, but we do so at the risk of upsetting an ecological balance we don’t fully understand.

Love is bigger than we are.  We can invite love, but we cannot dictate how, when, and where love expresses itself. We can choose to surrender to love, or not, but in the end love strikes like lightening, unpredictable and irrefutable. We can even find ourselves loving people we don’t like at all. Love does not come with conditions, stipulations, addendums, or codes. Like the sun, love radiates independently of our fears and desires.

Love is patient, love is kind. It has no envy, nor it boasts itself and it is never proud. It rejoices over the evil and is the truth seeker. Love protects; preserves and hopes for the positive aspect of life.

But, does this always mean that we know what Love is?  What if Love is just a state of being?  Respect can exist healthily without love, but the converse is not true. Love without respect is not a desirable state.

Love is inherently free. It cannot be bought, sold, or traded. You cannot make someone love you, nor can you prevent it, for any amount of money. Love cannot be imprisoned nor can it be legislated. Love is not a substance, not a commodity, nor even a marketable power source. Love has no territory, no borders, no quantifiable mass or energy output. Love is priceless and the depth of love can not be measured.

Love is a force of nature.  It is about a state of Being.  It is a natural state. It has to be a natural state, or it is forced or a pretense.  Love should be experienced and not just felt.

Live and Learn. We all do.

Thanks for reading. Please pass this on to someone who means something to you.