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What does love mean?

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  • #96281
    Dina
    Participant

    Good Morning fellow Tiny Buddha readers!

    Several days ago I moved into a new home with new housemates. A tradition in my new home is watching “The Bachelor”. I’m not generally a huge fan of these types of shows (as I find them cruel), but I figured I had nothing to lose and it could be some solid bonding time with new friends, so I gave it a shot.

    What struck me about the show, was how amazingly in “love” these girls were with a man who was seeing 10 of them all at once. I thought to myself, I cant remember the last time I felt that way. That all encompassing, can’t breath without you, cant imagine losing you type of feeling. Is that something to aspire to? Is that love?

    I found myself contemplating my current relationship. That night over the phone, I discussed this with my boyfriend and he asked me how I felt about him. I replied with quite a bit. We live our day to day together. I feel safe with him. He is my best friend with whom I can be intimate. I can talk to him about anything and we can work through anything. Thats what makes him my partner instead of just someone else I chose to date. The ability to talk and work through things is so difficult to find and so incredible to experience.

    I think I’m coming to realize as I get older that love isn’t glamorous. Love is hard. Loving someone forever is no easy feat, and relationships take work. There are moments when I’m so frustrated with him that I want to scream. There are moments when I need my space. But, there are also moments when I look at my partner and I think to myself “I am so in love with you and this right here is why”. Love isn’t a fairytale. I think to me, love is a journey. Love is a road trip and you have chosen someone to take it with you for the rest of your life (with the assumption that you are someone who would choose to marry).

    Anyways, just some ramblings of an overthinker 🙂 Please feel free to post your thoughts on love here. Always open to new perspectives!

    #96285
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Dina:

    Like your post! Whatever is on TV is about entertainment, about attracting the greatest number of viewers so to produce the biggest income. And that is all. If truth and making money meet here and there, that is a random meeting.

    I like your description of your relationship, real life love, a road to take, a forever to consider and aim at. There is always a difference between fantasy and reality. Separating the two makes better living.

    anita

    #96323
    Matic
    Participant

    Dear Dina.

    I just have to reply to your post as it resonates with me so much.

    I have been dating this wonderful woman for about 3 months now. Everything has been going great. We have great intimacy, sex and a lot of trust in each other. We also make real effort to make each other feel loved. But up until yesterday I had a problem. When I was not physicaly with her I just didnt have that in love feeling. I knew I loved here but I was not sure if I was in love. And that made me really anxious and afraid. Was she right for me eventhough I didnt experience that head over heals feeling. My anxiety translated into our meets because I just couldnt be in the moment with her and fully enjoy our meetings because I was obsesivly overthinking this issue. I cant stress enough how much fear this caused me. This was a woman who I shared almost all my interest with, who supports me with every endevour, with whom I have great sex. But all I could think about was, why butterfly love was so infrequently felt. When I relaxed I did sometimes feel it. I must emphasize this.

    And literally yesterday it hit me. When looking for a lifetime partner the only thing which matters is if I want to share my life with here without the in love feeling which will eventually subside as is scientifically proven. Am I prepared to compromise pretty much everything for the rest of my life just so I can lay down with here in the evening and so I can tell here I love here and so I can here the same thing, no matter how hard mine and her days were or how brutal the fight we had was?

    And the answer was a resounding yes. No one will always look beautiful, or sexy, or be happy, or be motivated. You will not always be their momentary priority. YOU wil not always be in the mood for love. Sometimes you will need space, or you will need to shout or cry. All of that is normal in a mature relationship. The “in love” feeling proposed to us by western culture is highly overrated as it is fuled only by hormones. What really matters is will my partner support me no matter what, can I spend real quality time with her, can I do mutual activities with her, are we sexually compatible.

    Maybe this post is just a re-do of Dinas, and maybe it is just a little confused, but the ectasy I feel is real. The freedom I feel that my love is not bound by any expectation. Maybe this is the first time in my life where I see my partner as a complete seperate person, who I do not feel the need to change and I still feel thrilled to spend the rest of my life with her. By not forcing the “in love” feeling it has come to me voluntarily.

    Have a great day.
    Matic

    #96333
    Dina
    Participant

    🙂 Thank you so much for posting, Matic. What you describe is exactly how I feel, down to every last anxious drop. Anxiety makes it so hard for me to enjoy things as I tend to overanalyze until the beauty is taken out of the situation and fear replaces it. I’m glad you were able to see this in yourself and can experience mutual love, admiration, and companionship with this woman. I’m happy for you, and happy to know that in this journey of life I am not alone 🙂

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