How important is love? and a challenge!

[livelaughlove]

Hey everyone,
I'm interested in how important you think love is to you - regardless of what "kind" it is, but please do specify which kind you are referring to in your post. And if you don't think yours fits in a certain category, then you are welcome to make up your own category!! I just want to see what love means to each of you. And then... I have a challenge (which I will take part in as well)....

Those of you who think love is very important to you, think about what you would do if you didn't have it, or if you didn't have someone that you love in your life. Cherish it. Be grateful. And most of all... SPREAD the love!!!

So, my challenge is... go out of your way to be kind to somebody tomorrow. Or, start today, if you'd like. The only rule is that it has to be to somebody you don't really know - someone who is not a close friend or relation. You can do whatever you want - smile, hold the door for them, say hello, compliment their eyes... anything!! Just be nice. And then post it here!!

[Ryduce]

I need to get me a ladyfriend.

ASAP!

[sprinks]

Love is one of the most important things to me. All kinds of love... Family love, without that I would'nt have made it through some very tough situations, friendship love, I love my friends, I care about them and they're always there for me as I am for them, but right now in my life the most important love is the love I have for one certain person, as in the boyfriend/girlfriend type love. The love I have for him is incredibly strong and its even surviving being in a temporary long distance relationship (although it's temporary it's still a long time ). Most teenagers have relationships merely because they enjoy the physical side of it, but I have a really good emotional relationship with him which is why the relationship is working despite the distance, he's always been a great friend of mine as well as something more.

Basically, without love, I'd be nothing! There'd be no reason for life.

[JBI]

Self love, without it, I would need friends.
JBI

[SleepyWitch]

So, my challenge is... go out of your way to be kind to somebody tomorrow. Or, start today, if you'd like. The only rule is that it has to be to somebody you don't really know - someone who is not a close friend or relation. You can do whatever you want - smile, hold the door for them, say hello, compliment their eyes... anything!! Just be nice. And then post it here!!

that's a really neat idea. I'll try it on my nemesis (let's call her Ms B!tch) next time I see her. but then, I always try to be kind to her and so far it hasn't made her less b!tchy, at least not towards other people than me.

anyway, I voted "pretty important". I'm in a long term relationship and I've grown so used to my "hubby" I don't know what I'd do without him. But on the other hand, I know that I can survive several years of singledom and live on my own. As long as I've got close friends who accept me I don't need the bf/gf type of love, but now that I've got my hubby I'm not gonna let him go again

[B-Mental]

That challenge is really not that challenging to me. I do that everyday. Anyways, Love of any kind is important. The kind of love where you shake a total strangers hand and offer he/she something should they need it, and you have it in abundance. B

[SleepyWitch]

That challenge is really not that challenging to me. I do that everyday. Anyways, Love of any kind is important. The kind of love where you shake a total strangers hand and offer he/she something should they need it, and you have it in abundance. B

you mean the "love your neighbour" kind of thingy? yeah, that one is definitely important... the English language is deficient in a variety of vocab when it comes to different kinds of love

[LadyW]

Self love, without it, I would need friends.
JBI

Hahaha, that made me laugh...

I'm a real romantic; when I fall for someone, I fall really hard. Still haven't decided if it is a blessing or a curse
Love is like oxygen <3 without it, I can't breathe.
Remember those crushes kids get in school? Yeah I never had those... I was smitten for a guy 2 years older than me for about 3 years. I'm not saying I was in love with him...because at the age of 8 it seems a little far fetched, but it was like the first time I have ever had feelings for someone in that sense. I've been lost to love ever since
I have to say in my lifetime I have loved/"liked" only 3 people in the romantic sense of the word... I'm not one for small meaningless "fancies" (not that I believe there is anything wrong with it mind.)

[manoj_love]

Hey everyone,
I'm interested in how important you think love is to you - regardless of what "kind" it is, but please do specify which kind you are referring to in your post. And if you don't think yours fits in a certain category, then you are welcome to make up your own category!! I just want to see what love means to each of you. And then... I have a challenge (which I will take part in as well)....

Those of you who think love is very important to you, think about what you would do if you didn't have it, or if you didn't have someone that you love in your life. Cherish it. Be grateful. And most of all... SPREAD the love!!!

So, my challenge is... go out of your way to be kind to somebody tomorrow. Or, start today, if you'd like. The only rule is that it has to be to somebody you don't really know - someone who is not a close friend or relation. You can do whatever you want - smile, hold the door for them, say hello, compliment their eyes... anything!! Just be nice. And then post it here!!

love is the part and the art of life

[Pensive]

Oh love? Which sparrow do we call 'love'? Hmmmm....let me think........oh yes love.I remember. Sorry. Have heard of it spoken so much that now any talk about it gets me confused. Let's take the example of Valentine's Day....they say, "I love you." And hell one has to figure out what love is when the people who say that to you have left another person they said the same thing to just because they got bored. Yeees. We are talking about it, right?

Ummm now I feel a bit saner....romantic love is probably the least important while self-love the most important in my eyes.

...because at the age of 8 it seems a little far fetched, but it was like the first time I have ever had feelings for someone in that sense. I've been lost to love ever since

Heh. Personally, I have come across little children loving so passionately and selflessly (if there is something as a selfless love) that would surpass the love many adults claim to share.

[Nighteyes5678]

All love is important.

And now I feel cliche.

[Chava]

Hrm, tricky. Love is important, but it's not going to determine my level of happiness. For one, the emotion of love is very sim´milar to the notion of appreciation. Yep, i get that heart flutter when i think about how great my friends are, appreciating them for who they are, and the ways they participate in my life.
Secondly, there is much more to life than just love. Though I will admit it's a wonderful accessory in life.

[Dori]

Abraham Maslow, and American psychologist, theorized that "love and belonging" come after "physiological" (food, etc.) and "safety" needs and before "esteem" needs and "self-actualization" (realizing your full potential). He organized this into something called "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" which looks something like:

--------
----------
--------------
-Self-Actualization-
---------------------
--------Esteem--------
--------------------------
------Love & Belonging------
------------------------------
-------------Safety-------------
-----------------------------------
-------------Physiological-------------
----------------------------------------

Something like that.

I think I agree with Maslow on this subject.


Oh, wait a sec, I found a better looking diagram of Maslow's Hierarchy:



At least I tried to recreate the pyramid.

[AimusSage]

Good ol' Maslow! Popping up wherever one goes!

He got it right though, love is right there in the middle, too much and you go nuts, too little and you go nuts.

Or to Mars, if you're more of a spacey candy person.

[Lily Adams]

Very imporatant, indeed. I think one of the reasons why I'm so successful is because of other people who I care about in my life and who in return care about me. Like I've said many times before, it's not easy for me to get a true true person who both understands and supports me, so love is very important to me.

I'm talking about platonic love, mind you. Have had no other kind of love (i.e. carnal) as of yet.