What is love?

Love!

A thousand thoughts and a million words are available for this one single concept of our lively world. This shows how much it matters to us. We might have multifarious definitions but everybody can perceive clearly when he or she feels it. We might have different approaches to it but we all are touched by it in some or other form on some or other day and that moment is precious to us.

Parental love, love of pets, love of things, love of thoughts – anything can be the object of our love. We all want what we love but we are told that if we love something, we should let it go. We should not desire to keep it, rather we should set it free.

Here is the crux of the matter: Is love to give or to receive? These are two different aspects of love -  to love and to be loved. The most common confusion is that what is taken as love is generally our desire to be loved.  And that is the reason it is not easy for us to love something and set it free.

So, if you want to know what you actually love, ask yourself a simple question: What is it in your life to which or to whom you are ready to give, rather you love to give? If you like to write even if nobody is ready to publish your writings, that means you love to write. If you readily do everything for your kids even if they do not acknowledge it, you love your kids. If you want to sing without any hope for appreciation, you just love to sing. If you are ready to give benevolently, you have love in your heart.

Love may change with time or you may no more love something which you used to love. In those cases your love is not false. Till when you feel like giving, you love it, when you stop giving, actually you stop loving. Generally we give with a hidden hope of receiving returns in future. When that hope dies with time, our love also dies.

The return of love actually resides in the joy of giving itself. If you find that joy, you can continue to love; if you lose that joy, your love will not last. Because, if something does not give you joy, you automatically stop feeling good about it.

So, if you want love in your life, open you heart as wide as the sky and start giving yourself. You will not lose anything but be filled with a feeling of completeness because completeness does not come when there is nothing left to add; completeness comes when there is nothing left to deduct.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Rachana Sharma has Doctorate in Philosophy and Masters in Philosophy and Sanskrit. She has published articles in various philosophical journals such as Paramarsh (Pune University), Journal of Philosophical Research (New Delhi), and The Philosopher’s Index (Ohio University, USA).