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What did you mean when you last said "I love ______!" This universal emo-tion is hard to define. Between two people, it symbolizes a rich mix of admira-tion, respect, appreciation, approval, acceptance, liking, caring, pleasure, enjoy-ment, trust (safety), tolerance, friendship, and interest. Philosophers and poets observe different types of love - romantic, familial, platonic, spiritual, humanitarian, possessive, self, unrequited, spiritual, unhealthy smothering, and pseudo. Have you experienced each of these? Can you des-cribe the difference between liking, needing, caring, and loving? How do you feel about Roy Croft's wise observation "I love you, not only for who you are, but for who I am when I am with you."? Joseph Addison proposed "Three grand essentials to happiness are something to love, something to do, and something to hope for." Do you agree? Wholistically-healthy adults and kids long to feel loved and loving "enough." Infants who don't receive enough genuine, consistent, unselfish love grow up psychologically wounded. In the worst case, they become "cold" adults unable to feel, receive, and give love to (bond with) others. Trapped in a culture that glor-ifies love, they live in agonizing isolation and loneliness, wondering "What's wrong with me?" Do you know anyone like that? Lesson 1 here can help them. Whom do you love - and why? Do you love yourself? |
About Love