LOVE, Kloudiia

Who believes in this statement?

Love Conquers All.

For those who believe, I can hear your astounding “Yes! Love conquers all. It is only love that is the solution to all problems”

For those who do not believe, I can also hear your protest “Time to wake up! We are in a real world, not a fantasy land. Can love feed your stomach? Can love alone satisfy all your needs?”

At this point, we shan’t conclude anything. I don’t believe there is any right or wrong. It is just what we choose to believe, and we all know this will lead to the varied lives we lead.

Love conquers all. No, love alone is not enough. We are living in a practical world where all the realities are harsh and setting in. We need more than love. For example, money and/or career.

Love conquers all. No, love can be the source of problems. If we don’t love someone we will not be bothered by what he/she says, hence no fights will result.

Love conquers all. No, love is situation dependent. If the other factors aren’t present, it is hard for us to love.

Yes, love is not money. (Who says so?) Hence we can’t depend on it to feed our stomachs. But love conquer this by giving you the bullets to fight the war! When you have love, you have the determination to do whatever it takes to find food. Because your heart is fed full with love, and hence it is able to release energy to find food for your stomach. 

Yes, love can cause problems. This only means you have the capability to love someone to let him/her into your heart. This means you are alive! If love can create problems, love can solve those problems. What you need is to use the power of love to release all the positive resources inside you, like patience, understanding and empathy, to tackle those problems.

Yes, love is situation dependent. It depends on how much you love each other, and how strong your love is. When love is built on the right foundation, it can only give you courage, motivation and the never-say-die spirit to do whatever you want to do and not to feel hopeless or tired when things do not turn out as you would wish for.

When two people are in love, they are in an altered state.  Their brain when aroused releases this drug Dopamine that is responsible for making couples feeling “dizzy”, faster-beating hearts and butterflies in their stomachs. Does this feeling last eternally? Psychology research has shown that this high feeling can last between three to seven years. What happens then? Do couples break up and go their seperate ways each time they aren’t not in love anymore?

No they don’t split. They shift from the state of being in love to love. There is a difference between being in love and to love. When you are in love, you get excited just by thinking of the person you are in love with. When you love, it is a steady emotion that leads to a meaningful relationship where you share a life with each other. You care for each other, and you put your partner’s needs in front of you. You consider their feelings and you want to do things to make them happy.

Of course, being in love also helps to nurture and develop the lasting love. Sometimes these two happen concurrently as a couple move from the initial attraction stage to discovering more about each other, acceptance and finally commitment.

Yes they split, when they do not know the difference between being in love and love. Hence they wrongly assume that just becasue they no longer feel their faces flushing or they don’t miss each other all day long anymore, there is no love. The love has gone. They say their goodbyes to each other, and embark on a new route hoping to fall in love again and start another love journey. Little do they know that they have just entered into this vicious cycle and they will never stop falling in and out of love, unless they realise the truth.

When you see the true meaning that love gives, it really is the solution to all problems. Look around at the bigger issues created as a result of lack of love.

A parent can lay down his/her life anytime for their child. Do you think they do this out of their duty or responsibility as a parent? Or they do this out of love?

Here, I would like to clarify one point. Being human, we are prone to selfish thoughts and wants. Hence to really experience the kind of great love like Mother Teresa had for those poor, sickly and dying, we may be still a distance away. How many of us can truly and unhesitatingly say we are still able to love an underpriviledged one, a handicap, someone who is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease or a baby born with Down’s Syndrome unconditionally? Because we know by proclaiming that means so much more than just the words.

Yet we know there are people who can. And their actions are a direct result of this love in their hearts. They are the angels on earth, and their work has brought love and hope to those who received.

For those who can’t, we say that love is not the solution. In actuality, deep in our hearts we know that only love can conquer all. It is a matter of whether do we have the courage to choose to love under those circumstances.

This marks the end of my entire Love Belief Series. I hope you find them thought-stimulating as well as love-enriching, as I did while writing them.