A repost from my myspace blog on Love...

"A little while ago I asked about 200 different people on MySpace what they thought love was. I asked "What is Love to You?"

Many people felt this was a very difficult question and some said they couldn't answer it. Others told me that it would take some time and they would get back to me. Still more threw out cliche things like it is that warm feeling you get inside whenever you think of a certain someone or butterflies or never having to say you're sorry. The list goes on and on. I did have a lot of good responses by people who actually took time to see what love really is to them. Those were the responses that I enjoyed the most.

The reason I enjoyed them is the reason I love to watch and learn about people, they were so different! I can not say that they were wrong because my question was what is love to YOU! Not what is "Love" to me or what do you think I want to hear about what "Love" is. I want to know what you think "Love" is and that is exactly what I found out. I found out that most people don't agree on what "Love" is.

I am of the opinion that one of the major problems we have with people today is that they don't see "Love" the same as the person that they say they are in "Love" with. If you aren't talking about the same thing then you won't show it the same way! I'm not talking about the love languages I am simply saying that they don't agree on what "Love" is and what it means to be in "Love".

I have been asked what I think the definition of "Love" is. Here is the Reader's Digest version of what I think "Love" is.

I will start off by saying that there are different kinds of love and yet they will all have the same root meaning. I love the Dodgers, my Parents and Arnold Palmer's. If you really know me then you know it is true that I love all three of these things. Now if love to me was a feeling that I get in my stomach, or never having to say I am sorry or any of the cliche things that people say love is then how could that apply to both my favorite beverage and my parents?

The answer to that is that it can't. My definition "Love" is as follows:

Love is a Decision Based on Your Character for the Selfless Promotion of Someone or Something.

Now what does that mean to me? You can choose who and what you love. You can choose if you want to stay "in love" with it. Let's start out with things that aren't people. I have been a Dodger fan for most of my life. They have had some good teams and they have had some bad teams. That doesn't affect if I am a Dodger fan or not. My love for the Dodgers is not based on what they do. None of the players know me and so my opinion of them is not a top priority and does not affect how they play and yet I will root for them in a room full of Yankee fans. My cheering for a team that no one else is cheering for doesn't profit me anything. It does however promote the team I am cheering for. That goes along with my definition that love is a decision based on my character for the selfless promotion of someone or something.

Now it is time we looked at the "Love" we have for that special someone. I have had people tell me that love is that feeling they get when they are around their significant other. Those same people lose that feeling after a little while and they have fallen out of love. I simply don't agree with that. Everyone I have loved in my life I still love. That does not mean that I want to be around them all the time or that I have the same "feelings" for them that I once had. My feelings don't dictate who I love. I love my family. We don't always get along and we don't always see eye to eye. The warm fuzzy feelings are not always there but I still love them. My love for them is not based on what they do or say it is based on a decision. That decision is based on your character as well. People who say one thing and yet you know there word means nothing because they are not people of character, those are the people who will love you one minute and hate you the next. They won't stand by the decision they made.

Also love is the selfless promotion of someone or something else. If you love someone because of how they make you feel then you don't love them. You love yourself and what they can do for you! When your feelings stop your love for them stops. That is not loving them it is loving yourself. Love says that I don't care if it benefits me at all, I will stand by you and be behind you. That is loving someone else and not yourself.

Too often people get caught up in what makes them feel good. Life is not all about making yourself feel good. If you are out for your own pleasure than you will always be seeking something more than you have. Looking for that person or that thing that will make you complete. This will prove to be an empty pursuit and will always leave you wanting.

That is simply my opinion. You may agree or disagree, that is up to you. I am not here to tell you how or what to think, I just hope that you do. Think about what you are doing before you do it. Your choices matter."

-my Myspace blog from July 18, 2006