When I was younger, I naturally adopted my mother’s view of love. She would always tell me, “When I had you, I learned what unconditional love was.”
For a long time, I held my own view of true love in a similar light.
Love can be a complicated topic. There’s all types of love. Romantic love. The love you have for a friend. Your most favorite dessert as a kid or that one song you and the squad loved in high school.
But true love is simple. It’s defined differently by everyone, but it’s the real meaning of love anybody can resonate with when brought up. That’s what I’m talking about.
For me it’s always been preceded by unconditional. If I really love you, I’ll love you under any circumstance. The time, place, or situation doesn’t matter. It won’t change the fact that I love you.
This was reflected in my relationships too. If we fell out, I still love you. There may be distance there for whatever reason, but that doesn’t change the love we gave. Romantic or Platonic. I still hold my mother’s definition of love close.
But things change.
I decided to live life on my own terms, and I shifted my view of love.
Agape or “Love as an action” is one of the four words the ancient Greeks used to describe love.
This struck me so hard the first time I heard it. The closer I step towards the person I want to be the more I resonate with this definition of love. It’s so real to me. The actions of showing love feel so much stronger to me than leaving things to what’s understood.
Going even deeper, the way we spend our time, or how we spend it, is a big sign of love to me. The most valuable thing I can offer is my time.
Life gets a lot simpler when you narrow down your view of love. For me, it’s time, energy, and effort.
