Definition Essay - Definition of Love Affection, devotion, passion, desire, warmth, respect, or loyalty. You choose. It doesn't matter which one because they are all forms of love. Some are powerful and require attention, while others are more subtle and just below the surface. In recent years, love has moved from these subtle levels to the more obvious ones, namely passion. In my opinion, our society downplays the real need for genuine affection. By this I mean that we, as a society, spend so much time focusing on just one level of love (passion) that we tend to overlook and fail to recognize the need for closeness and trust (friendship). Love is an all-encompassing emotion that can be powerful and demanding, but also rewarding and pleasurable. Love is commitment. Loving means committing ourselves without guarantees, giving ourselves completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved one. Commitment can be called the backbone or building block of love. In other words, commitment is needed to build a stable and trusting relationship. Without commitment, love could not grow and flourish. It can be extremely demanding for someone who isn't ready or sure they want to commit to another person. I have to admit that this can be extremely difficult at times and can leave you a little vulnerable. Commitment is the ability to take a risk and accept the possibility of disappointment or pain. Again, I have to admit that commitment can be challenging, but looking on the bright side can also be rewarding. Being able to maintain a committed relationship says a lot about a person; at least it does to me. Love is sharing. By this I mean sharing one's life, one's feelings and one's failures; not just personal property. Sharing is about being honest with yourself and allowing the other person in the relationship to really get to know who you really are. It takes more strength and courage to be able to share a relationship. In my experience (which hasn't been that long) sharing makes the relationship grow. Not only do you share life experiences, old and new, but you also learn to communicate. Communication is a very important aspect of sharing. Just being able to communicate your problems or solutions to each other is a step in the right direction towards a loving relationship. Many marriages or friendships in recent years have ended simply because the couple could not communicate and share their feelings. Sharing is not an easy thing to do, but it is critical to the success of a relationship. Love is compassion. Compassion is being able to care about another's feelings. It is understanding and listening to the needs and desires of your loved one. For me, to have compassion you must first feel empathy towards another person. Compassion and empathy go hand in hand. They are the state of ultimately caring about the health and well-being of another person. Love is faith. This has to be the hardest form of love to conquer. Most of the time, when people discuss faith, they are referring to the relationship they, as individuals, have with their particular God. I believe that having faith in one or more Gods is important, but faith should not be limited to religious deities. Faith can also be applied to "normal, everyday" person-to-person relationships. In a marriage, you trust that your partner will be monogamous and support you. Of course, when talking about a friendship, family member, or colleague, you also need to trust that your loved one will be honest and upfront with you. There are so many levels of faith that we should not forget or ignore them. There?"