Love: An Act of Will?

“Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection or profound oneness. In colloquial use, according to polled opinion, the most favored definitions of love involve altruism, selflessness, friendship, union, family, and bonding or connecting with another” (wikipedia.com).

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.” (I Corinthians 13 verses 4-8)

There are many definitions of love as what a person can perceive of it. Maybe I have the same definition of what love is with other people in the world. For me, you love someone when you seek to change someone for the better or you seek to change yourself for the better for that someone whom you love.

In my previous blog, I said that, “Love is in a relationship where both parties give and take. It is unselfish.” I would further express my ideas about what I think of this topic. Let us consider the statement below.

“To love is to choose. Love is an action. Not just a feeling.” (Someone from yahoo answers)
Pertinent to the first sentence, I disagree. For me, when you love, your conscious mind never gets to choose whom you would love. I don’t know a scientific explanation to this but your heart would just beat for someone when you can never figure out what you really love about him or her (talking about romantic love). It is an act of the heart and also not just a feeling.

I still disagree to its first sentence when we talk about the love for your family. You don’t choose whether to love them or not. We have no choice, not because it is my will or it is my obligation to love them back, but it is because my heart tells me to do so. Suppose your parents were so irresponsible that they almost neglect you and you hate them so much because of this. Then, one day, they would die in a car crash. You would still end up crying upon their graves regretting. Why? We don’t know. Love is so hard to explain. It is not loving because of will.

Love is an action of seeking betterment for each other. When you love, you sacrifice much for the one you love, not to the point of making yourself a martyr but just doing good things to the beneficiary of your love. You may sacrifice things that you like the most just to show you affection and make your relationship better. This applies to any kind of love.

Okay, I admit, I am really confused of the parameters here but I hope somehow you get my own point of view from this blogpost. To continue…

Love is an act of heart. This is my stand. When you already love a person, you do things that could make you both better by your will to show and express your love for each other.