Oh, It is Love

The past week has been one of way too much reflection, and this is what I've come up with:

LOVE.

There are a million different types of love, and a million different levels of each.

For instance:

Strangers: Not knowing someone, but still caring that they are happy, and that they have what they need to survive and even thrive. And an understanding that we are all in this together, whether we know you personally or not.

Enemies: Even though we dislike some people, some how they enter our heart. It doesn't matter what they do or who they are, we cannot help but feel for them.

Parent to child: Now, I've never felt this love before, but i can imagine it feels something like fiercely protective and full of wonder. Completely unselfish. Accomplished. Amazed. And SO much more.

Child to Mother: The type of love a child has for their mother would be filled with gratitude and appreciation for everything mothers do for them. It would be a need for the woman who understands and loves them more than anything else in the world. A need for the complete love a mother has for her child. A feeling of security.

Child to Father: Also appreciation, but in a different way. A love for a father is love for being and feeling protected. Knowing that no one can really hurt you if he's there. A love for the solid advice that a child can choose to accept or not, but knowing it's out of love regardless.

Siblings: A sense of FIERCE loyalty and protection. A friend when you need one, and a punching bag any other time. Someone who will always be there. No matter what.

Friends: Very similar to sibling with the fierce loyalty aspect, as well as the protection aspect. But it has something else. Something extra. It is a fresh look, an unbiased opinion. A love that isn't tainted by blood relations. An honest concern for their well-being, and not just their happiness.

And here's the one I've been thinking most about...

Significant Others: President Hinckley describes true love as "anxious concern for someone's well-being," which I completely agree with. However, I'd like to add a few other feelings or words to this. I once heard that love is electric, like, there must be something there, a feeling, any time a touch is felt or a kiss is shared. There must be a feeling of not being able to breathe without that person, of knowing that you'd be clueless without them. They fill your soul in ways you cannot really comprehend or describe.

Sometimes...
people say the word "love" without clarifying which kind they feel. And in the end, that misunderstanding is what hurts. It doesn't take two to love. Sometimes you feel love for someone who doesn't feel love back.

So.
Let's all take the time to think about how we feel about others before we use that word. And if we then decide to use the word, let's make sure we use it in the right sense. Let's understand the love we try so desperately to spread around.