Love  

is complex.
A mix of emotions , behaviors, and beliefs associated with strong feelings of affection, protectiveness, warmth, and respect for another
person.
Love can also be used to apply to non-human animals, to principles, and to religious beliefs. For example, a person might say he or she
loves his or her dog, loves freedom, or loves God.

WHAT IS LOVE?
Love has been a favored topic of philosophers, poets, writers, and scientists for generations, and different people and groups have often
fought about its definition.

While most people agree that love implies strong feelings of affection, there are many disagreements about its precise meaning, and one
person’s “I love you” might mean something quite different than another’s.

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Some possible definitions of love include:

 A willingness to prioritize another’s well-being or happiness above your own.

 Extreme feelings of attachment , affection, and need.
 Dramatic, sudden feelings of attraction and respect.
 A fleeting emotion of care, affection, and like.
 A choice to commit to helping, respecting, and caring for another, such as in marriage  or when having a child .
 Some combination of the above emotions.
There has been much debate about whether love is a choice, is something that is permanent or fleeting, and whether the love between family
members and spouses is biologically programmed or culturally indoctrinated. Love may vary from person to person and culture to culture.
Each of the debates about love may be accurate in some time and someplace. For example, in some instances, love may be a choice while
in others it may feel uncontrollable.
LOVE VERSUS LUST
Especially in the early stages of a relationship, it can be difficult to tell the difference between love and lust. Both are associated with physical
attraction and an intoxicating rush of feel-good chemicals, coupled with an often overwhelming desire to be closer to another person, but only
one is long-lasting: love.

Love is something that is cultivated between two people and grows over time, through getting to know him or her and experiencing life’s
many ups and downs together. It involves commitment, time, mutual trust, and acceptance.

Lust, on the other hand, has to do with the sex-driven sensations that draw people toward one another initially and is fueled primarily by the
urge to procreate. Characterized by sex hormones and idealistic infatuation, lust blurs our ability to see a person for who he or she truly is,
and consequently, it may or may not lead to a long-term relationship.

For instance, Lana is in a committed relationship with Steve and her sexual desire for him is waning. She loves and cares for him, but she
finds herself feeling restless and dissatisfied with their physical relationship. When she meets Brendan, she experiences instant feelings of
attraction and longing. The chemical messengers in her brain start sending signals to pursue this new man, even though she does not know
anything about him other than how his presence makes her feel physically. Instead of working to improve intimacy  with her current partner,
she is overcome by lust for someone new.