True Love. It's a common phrase. "True love" is everywhere - music, films, stories, and especially daydreams. But what is true love? What makes the difference between true love and false love? Perhaps you already know. But do you? Here's an example. We tend to think that love and like are synonyms. "Oh my gosh, I love your dress," or "I just love pizza." Really? You do? You are willing to sacrifice your life for the dress or the pizza? Hm. I should hope not. No, darling, you like pizza and you like your friend's dress. "Love" is so overused nowadays, it's not going to add any extra conviction to your sentence anyway. (Note: I myself am not always innocent of this transgression. Just thought I'd make that clear.)
The same goes for love and romance. Romance itself has been degraded to mean something much worse, but never mind that right now. Love doesn't just mean walking on air and chocolates and roses, people. You can be "in love" without truly loving the person at all, because true love is not an emotion, not a feeling. It's an act of the will - something that you choose to do. This is why, as a certain rather brilliant acquaintance of mine once pointed out, the arranged marriages so common in the past actually worked out when the couple sincerely made an effort. They made the choice to love each other. (Note: I am not advocating arranged marriages. I would freak if someone arranged a marriage for me.)
If I have true love for someone, my greatest aim is not to be with them forever. My greatest aim is to do whatever is best for them, even if it means being with someone else, because my love isn't selfish. All that matters is their welfare. I am unimportant except where I can be of use, and I will do whatever it takes to for that person's true happiness.
Also, true love is not reserved for just a man and a woman. One can truly love anyone - parents, friends, siblings, students, whatever.
True love is not a feeling. It's not destiny. It's not a chemical reaction. It's a conscious choice by which a person puts someone else above himself or herself in all things. It's what Our Lord has for each one of us. And it's very beautiful.
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| Made with Pixlr and Picmonkey. I quoted from memory, so I apologize if I got the wording wrong somehow. |
Thank you, Victoria! Wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteI simply love--nope, like--your wit!
*claps hands* beautifully said, Victoria.
ReplyDeleteI wuv your post!. No wait, I mean like. Definitely like. Strongly like. Oh, whatever, you get the picture.
ReplyDeleteStrongly like the title. Princess Bride is one or my favourite movies.