I said that love is when someone makes you a better person...
Well, there are people who push you to achieve your dreams. Or people who you want to impress so much that you wind up doing the things you always wanted to do. Where you say "I always wanted to learn to dance, and now, with her, I have." Or just having someone you can lean on to the point where you feel secure enough to chase your dreams a little farther. Goes beyond that, though. Trying to explain it in those terms makes it sound so petty. But being around some people just puts you in a mindset that you like more than where you would have been without them.
Someone that you love can really open your eyes to parts of the world that you hadn't seen before. Not just new interests, but seeing things in a whole new light. Friends can push you to try new things, but love can change you.
It is not necessarily a two-way thing, and I suppose it can even be applied to abstract concepts (love with music, with math, with truth justice and the american way). One-way love with a person is...well, not necessarily harmful, since it can still drive you to improve yourself, but it usually ends up causing all sorts of emotional issues. Love without friendship on the other hand is dangerous as all hell, using someone to improve yourself without caring about their well-being.
So I don't think love is about caring for the other person, it's about recognizing what they change inside you. I don't even think it's cynical; it is beautiful, really. Sane and stable love is two-way, but just caring about someone else, that can be friendship on its own. Hell there's people whose wellbeing here on this forum I worry about like that, but it's not love.
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Topic: A survey for all of you who enjoy other people (Read 3843 times)