From Teenage Yearning to Adult Understanding

Love – How did I find it and where will it lead me?

What is love? In our modern lives, our generation seems more mature of understanding the essence of love at a much younger age than our elders at that same age. But is this feeling of love the right definition of love or not is the million dollar question. I faced a similar dilemma in my teenager days. While love comprises of love for any human or animal including our parents, relatives, friends and other people, the moment we hit puberty our mind, rather our heart, yearns for that love that can be reciprocated by a lover – that feeling of being special, the feeling of waking up with hope knowing that today is another day that I will spend talking with my lover and spending time with him.

But at such a tender age, we confuse this hankering for attention with that of true and unconditional love. Owing to the lack of maturity, the moment things take a turn for the worse and the happy gleeful moments turn into moments of anger, miscommunication and tears rolling down our cheek, we exit that situation and that means exiting the relationship. While we grieve over the fact that there is nobody else to love us anymore and we lost our chance, somewhere else there is another guy hankering for the same feeling of love and comfort and it is just a matter of time before we meet. Once we meet, it is once again bright and sunny every morning and the feeling of being loved arises in our heart. But these are our teenage days, at least mine.

As we grow older, we understand the deeper definition of love although that definition still varies from one person to another. We realize love does not comprise only of joyous moments but involves heavy words such as adjustment and sacrifices for the overall benefit and growth of the relationship. At one point of my life in my adult days, even I found my one true love – the person for whom I might just do anything and everything. While people call true love as unconditional love, I believe there is no such thing as unconditional love between two lovers. It is a matter of mere sacrifices to bring that smile on each other’s face every day. But what I had felt in those moments were definitely unconditional love, as the person pulling the strings of my heart saw in me nothing more than a friend and I still hang in there by his side through his dark and sunny days without any hopes of getting love in return. That, for me is unconditional love and though it may bring me pain, I feel proud that I felt it. This feeling of love does not ask your permission to enter your life but simply arrives unannounced catching you off-guard. The person that till yesterday meant lesser to you, today means the world to you for a reason you can’t define and that is the beauty and purity of this love. You know your love is pure when you cannot answer the question – “What is it about him that you like?” .And the reason is simply that you cannot pinpoint that one simple attribute in him that you like for you love him as a whole – his eyes, his smile, his innocence, his words and what not. It is a feeling you cannot describe and yet it is the feeling that you understand the most in your heart. While I continue on this quest of unconditional love of mine, and I admit there are days that are darker than the solar eclipse, I still haven’t lost hope for it is not hope that keeps me going but my undying love for the person.

To conclude, what I want to express is not the sadness that love brings but the level of commitment and dedication that it brings out in you that even you didn’t knew existed. It gives you a newer perspective to look at life differently and wake up every day in the morning to go through the day. It is a feeling that all of us should get the chance to experience and while mine may bring me more sorrow than happiness at times, I hope others get a better luck in cherishing this beauty of love.

Love is a journey that often leads us down unexpected paths, challenging us to grow and evolve along the way. It pushes us to confront our deepest fears and vulnerabilities, teaching us valuable lessons about ourselves and others. Through the highs and lows of love, we discover our true strengths and weaknesses, gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to truly connect with another soul.

As we navigate the complexities of love, we come to realize that it is not always easy or straightforward. It requires patience, resilience, and a willingness to embrace the unknown. Love has the power to transform us in ways we never thought possible, opening our hearts to new possibilities and experiences. In the end, the journey of love is not just about finding someone to share our lives with, but also about discovering ourselves in the process.