Introduction
Human beings live while loving people, things, and other things. There are various types of such love, including hot love, romantic love, and love between friends. There is a lot of love all around us. However, love can be less than joyful at times. What makes something so appealing to people?
Why do people love? From history to today
People love people and things, according to Aaron Ahuvia (2022), because they gain knowledge, share it, understand each other, and make the world a better place. People adore finding something fantastic. However, feeling good about something is not a reason to love it. We need something better with a stronger emotional connection.
Something to love can be found in two places. For starters, the things we enjoy are linked to the people we care about. When someone gives a gift to someone, we think of the person who gave it to them, and they are moved by the gift. They can love the gift if they love the person who gave it to them.
Next, by seeing things as a part of our identity, we can do more. This is because we feel bad when people criticize what we have and happy when we are praised.
Things we enjoy connect us to others and become a part of our identity. In other words, when someone falls in love with another person or thing, the object becomes a part of them (Quora, 2022).
Types of love
According to Nwokoro (2023), the three basic elements of love are passion, intimacy, and commitment. These interrelationships make different kinds of love.
- Infatuation
Infatuation is a short-term intense passion or attraction to a person or thing. People become addicted to something because they want to know unknown information or because they make fictitious predictions about the future.
When people fall in love, they begin to envision a perfect future with that person.
- Empty love
A commitment-bound love, rather than one that prioritizes emotional intimacy and passion. This is typically the end of a passionate relationship or the formation of a relationship when passion and intimacy are not fostered. It is critical to open up and give our partner enough time to transform empty love into passionate love.
- Loving yourself
It is important to not only love something but also love, appreciate, and accept ourselves.
How to increase self-love
- Introducing Mindfulness
Understand how people think and feel and identify their needs.
- Self-nutrition
Maintain a healthy and independent lifestyle.
- Boundary setting
Set boundaries and reject anything that causes stress.
- Forgiveness
Be kind to yourself sometimes, see failure as a step towards success, and give yourself love and forgiveness.
- Selfless love
This refers to giving love without expecting anything in return and is the purest and highest form of love. A person with this kind of love can treat everyone with kindness and compassion.
- Romantic love
Love, intimacy, and passion bring together people who are physically and emotionally invested in romantic love.
- Playful love
Playful love is flirting with a partner and having fun. Most couples flirt with each other through teasing and heart-pounding.
- Affectionate love
Loving love, born of loyalty and respect, exists between friends and family. This has nothing to do with sexual relations.
- Family love
It refers to the love that abounds between parents, children, and best friends, nurtured in a strong family and deep friendships.
- Long lasting love
Years of dating and experiences form a strong bond between husband and wife. With continuous effort, these affections can be maintained.
- Compulsive love
It’s called an obsession to love someone that crosses boundaries and becomes saturated. An unhealthy one-sided relationship is created when we monopolize someone by showing too much affection.
Consequences of love
(What does misguided love bring?)
The things we love prove our existence and even captivate our imaginations and emotions. However, when we fall in love with the wrong thing, misplaced love is born. What are the consequences of misguided love? Here are the consequences, according to Foster (2022):
- Immorality
We love pleasure and when it becomes the most important thing for us, we will do anything to get it. Conscience disappears when we become addicted to them and justify immorality.
- Selfishness/Narcissism
We love our own status and honor, so we put ourselves above all else. The more selfish and selfish you become, the more difficult it is to build relationships and end up alone.
- Greed
We love money and when we get what we want, we buy something else to satisfy us. This leads to everlasting unsatisfied greed.
- Disappointment and depression
We believe that we are satisfied when we get something or achievement that we love. However, we are disappointed when the desired result and feeling are different. It makes us sad when we get everything, we want but doesn’t get the result or response we were hoping for.
- Imprisonment
Through people’s love of sin, they come to dominate their thoughts and actions. As a result, he loses much of what makes his life worthwhile and surrenders to the effects of sin.
What is true love?
According to Jesus Christ, loving God, our neighbor, and ourselves fills our lives with joy, strength, integrity, contentment, and anxiety.
Conclusion
People always love something, and they live their lives while being loved by something. Being filled with love can bring satisfaction and happiness, but misplaced love can cause harm to yourself and others, as well as ruin relationships. There are many different kinds of love, ranging from romantic feelings to feelings of adoration for friends, animals, and so on. We love them, and by reciprocating that love, we can improve our lives and relationships.
References
Foster, B.J. (2022). 5 Consequences of Misplaced Love. [online] All Pro Dad. Available at: <https://www.allprodad.com/5-consequences-of-misplaced-love/> [Accessed 4 March 2023].
Nwokoro, J. (2023). 10 Different Types Of Love In Relationships & Their Indicators. [online] STYLECRAZE. Available at: <https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/different-types-of-love/> [Accessed 3 March 2023].
Quora (2022). Why People Love Things. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2022/08/20/why-people-love-things/?sh=679c6e2b54e8> [Accessed 3 March 2023].
