What is Love and What it Means to Me - Part 2

Well, let's start off first with what love is not to me, shall we?

Love is not about the three little words that are strategically placed on millions (maybe billions) of little hallmark cards you buy for $1.99 by mega conglomerate companies or those simple words people throw out like the garbage every week that we have all heard so many times in vain.

It's not about buying someone flowers, candy, jewelry, cute stuffed animals, balloons, dinner and a movie, or any other gift that can be purchased with a cheap swipe of a credit card or quick pen swoop in an almost broke checkbook at your local strip mall.

The most powerful words that the world has ever known get violently vomited out, sadly, by people today so much now you would think it was a famous scene from the movie, Stand By Me with Lard Ass. (Note: If you don't know what I mean, go rent the movie; you will laugh your butt off and get what I mean!)

In this A.D.D, fast food, I want-it-now daddy, ego-centric, selfish, shallow, materialistic, screw your bosses and neighbor's wife, dishonest, disloyal, hypocritical, close-minded, co-dependent, and instant gratification society we are now forced to live in, what most people think is love is so far from it, in reality it's most always...

Co-dependency

Lust

Ego

Guilt

Shame

Neediness

Desperation

Loneliness

Circumstances (Have a kid together accidentally)

Infatuation

Or financial security or stability

Love is to me many enduring, compassionate and selfless actions repeated over a long period of time - not hollow words spoken or written on some painted tree bark that you put a stamp on and mail out conveniently.

That is what love is at its purest core.

This is what love means to me...

It's about tolerance, patience, understanding, compassion, giving, being selfless, sacrifice, compromise, being supportive, open minded, thoughtful, forgiving, loyal, not possessive, jealous, or controlling of the other person, nurturing, honest, dependable, you want a person you love to be happy always above all else, challenging them to their core even when they are uncomfortable with it at the time, because you know it will help them grow as a person, and above all else, you would rather die than hurt the other person you love so much in any way, shape or form.

They hurt...you hurt.

They're in pain...you're in pain.

A quick glimpse of they're angelic smile or sound of they're contagious giggle makes your heart glow red like the burning sun on a hot summer day.

Love is sitting up all night with your love at the hospital because they're dying from cancer, holding their hair out of their face while they puke painfully from hellish months of chemotherapy and radiation.

Love is accepting every fault, issue or weakness the other person has, because you know they accept all of yours without question.

Love is getting up in the middle of the night when you're at your wit's end and utterly exhausted to comfort your screaming newborn baby. Because you know your love needs a night off even more than you do.

It's not pretty, cute, romantic, or TV-movie-of-the-week crap.

It's simply real and breathtakingly ugly at times.

That's what the essence of love truly is!

A word of caution when you're thinking about saying those three little words or when someone says them to you, think about what love really is. Be somberly honest with yourself and figure out if that is how you really feel about that person; and do the actions of that person telling you those three words say love, or are they just words to you?

One of my favorite quotes I have memorized is perfect for this subject, I think. I hope all that read this will take it to heart and burn it into your mind and heart forever.

"The Greatest Danger For Most Of Us Is Not That Our Aim In Life Is Too High And We Miss It; It's That Our Aim Is Too Low And We Hit It." - Michelangelo

True unyielding love is once in a lifetime, and that's if the love gods bless you more than any one person ever really deserves. You won't see it, smell it, taste it, or hear it, mind you. And if you don't pay attention, you won't even be ready to feel it hit you like an out-of-control freight train, poised to level your whole existence under the cover of the cool night's calmness.

Passionate Ben is an relationship expert who has been on more online dating websites than anyone in the world! 35 different dating websites! Ben bridges the gap with his online talk radio show, relationship blogs, and future books between men and women around the world in a unconventional common sense NO B*llshit way. For a limited time you can download the FREE report called, "Open Your Eyes Already About Online Dating" at http://www.passionateben.com