Personal Definition: Love
Love is always going to be a complex topic of conversation but defining it for ourselves is an even more complex conversation when unpacking it within our own personal self-realization. When asked what ”love” is, many describe it as a feeling you get when [insert a description of a person/place/action that has a lot of value or influence]. I would say that there is a lot of feeling that comes with love, but that love is a mix of three different characteristics. For my own personal definition of love - selflessness, humility, and forgiveness are the driving points that make love what it is.
In order to be a selfless person, someone always puts family, friends, and peers before themselves. Through being of service to other people, that positivity becomes reflected onto you through the strengthening of the relationships of those that you help. Humility is what keeps someone selfless. Staying humble pushes people to reach for honesty, perseverance, and balance. Keeping your head leveled with others around you enables understanding between yourself and those within your life. Forgiveness is what tells people to look past flaws, mistakes, and pains in order to completely accept others as well as yourself.
Although love has varying meanings from person to person, I believe that these three qualities are imperative in its definition. Selflessness, humility, and forgiveness encompass the general treatment of others as well as how you treat yourself. A selfless person is willing to be of service, a humble person treats others with equality and doesn't put anyone including themselves on any pedestal, and a forgiving person learns from the past in order to function in the present and strive for a better future.