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Love means to see the one you love happy

Every day is a new beginning to celebrate one's love. 

 Yet some uncomfortable questions arise: 

  • How open are we to love? 
  • Do we take the one we love for granted?
  • Is there something that can be done to bring happiness to yourself and the person you love? 
  • Sometimes, can letting go be the best option? 

Love - a much maligned, abused word. How many times have we heard it, said it and not meant it? Billion? Zillion? Or have you hesitated to say it at all? Or maybe you are one of the lucky ones who have experienced love in a most beautiful way? Good for you! That is the way it should be.
But if you have been let down by some one you love, don't let it define the rest of your life or make you feel worthless. Far from it - you have learned something and you WILL move on to a happier self though it may not seem evident at the time. Remember this, no matter what happens: Nothing is permanent - not even our troubles. 


How to love with all the passion and truth in you? Here's what I believe works best: Mean what you say. Say what you mean. That's the only way to demonstrate love.

 And for me personally, this is my favorite definition of love and it's from none other than Nicholas Sparks: "Love means to see the one you love happy. True love means that you care for another's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be."

 Over to you - how do you define love in your life? Is there a quote, an expression or experience that brings you closer to your quest for love? Do share it here. I'd love to know.
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Comments

KParthasarathi said…
I agree with the quote you gave at the end.
I would define true love as merging of two selfless hearts living for the other without expectations other than love.But if you dissect love too much its beauty is lost.
February 2, 2014 at 8:46 AM
SoulSpace said…
Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves her. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in her, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true. — P.111-112

A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still knows bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. — P.37

These are from Viktor Frankl's Man in Search of Meaning

For me He says it all
February 11, 2014 at 12:52 AM
vinny said…
Completely agree with what Sowmya has shared from Victor Frankl's book 'Man's search for meaning'.

Remembered a story about a family living alone in a deserted, snowy place. The mother starved herself so that her children and husband could eat the few grains that grew in the little fertile patch they had built. She died soon after.

Love is the only emotion that can make our lives worthwhile, even if it is for a short span.
March 1, 2014 at 7:26 PM
Swapna Raghu Sanand said…
@KP Parthasarathi - Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts, much appreciated.

@Sowmya Srinivasan - I have no words!Because I have just completed reading Viktor Frankl's Man in Search of Meaning. Like you have written here, those exact words overwhelmed me beyond words. It is just so simple, deep and touches a chord within us. That is the absolute truth of life which he captured from living a life of torture in a concentration camp!

Hats off to you Sowmya for taking out time to share this INSPIRING quote here.

@Vinaya I know Vinaya and that is a lovely story you shared here too.

Man's eternal quest is not for happiness or riches or pleasure but to find that love that makes his life worthwhile. I truly believe that love can be in any form and in any scale. For some, it could be an individual. For others, such as Mother Teresa, it could be love that is practiced at a greater scale. Whatever the form or scale, I believe that it is love alone that makes our life meaningful and worthwhile.
May 24, 2014 at 2:45 PM
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