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A few months ago (almost 4), I wrote a post about what I consider to be a friend. I had intended to follow-up with this post, but never got around to it. With Valentine’s Day being yesterday, and with plenty else on my mind, I figured it was about time for me to finish the post and get it out in front of all of you.

Here goes: How do you define “love”?

I can think of a few ways that I would DESCRIBE love, but I don’t know that I can actually define it in a succinct manner. I welcome the attempts of any who can adequately do so. Here are a few examples of how I would explain it.

First, love is unconditional. There are many people that I love dearly, but that I can’t STAND to be around. Sounds odd, doesn’t it. I know that I love them, because I know that if they were to call and say they needed something – anything – I would do everything within my power to help them. And, with a few of these people that have come to mind, I would even rush to help 30 seconds after they did something to royally irritate me.

One example of this is from a time where I was paired up with another guy for about six weeks while I was being trained in a church-related role. I honestly couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him for more that five minutes. I seriously struggled with nearly everything he did. But, at the same time, I always felt like I would do anything to help him. And, now that I’ve had a few years to grow up, I would like to think that I would still be there to help him now, even though I haven’t seen or spoken to him in more than 4 years.

Around the time that I was in this training program, I heard this quote: “To say you love someone means that you would take a bullet for them.” I have no idea who said that, but I agree. Even with some people that I can’t stand, I still love them, and I even think I would take a bullet for them.

Secondly, there is the love that exists within families. It’s innate, and although there are ways for people to destroy this type of love, it runs REALLY deep in my family. It’s something very special, something that I cherish, and something that I don’t think I’ll find anywhere OUTside of my family – both from by parents/siblings and from my (assumed) future offspring.

There is also a special love that I have found amongst my close friends. It is a mix between the unconditional and the family types. There are no conditions on the love that I have for my friends, but I typically like to spend time with them. I enjoy their company (thus the friendship), but since we’re all human, there are always times where we get irritated with one another. It’s unavoidable. And, like the love within my family, I really care for their well-being and find myself thinking about them when we’re not hanging out together.

Finally, there is the fairy tale love that we all search for (right?). This is the love that brings two opposites together in matrimony, and that attempts to be the glue that holds them together. As I have not yet found this connection with anyone, I can’t speak from experience, but I know what I am expecting it to be. I anticipate that I will find someone that I can’t stand to be away from, someone that I think about constantly, and someone that reciprocates. It will be someone that makes me laugh, someone that appreciates me for who I am, and someone that knows that I like them just the way that they are. There will be no awkward silence between us. And when I do something to screw up, which I’m obviously going to do many times, this love will be what causes us to work through it. It will be amazing.

Now, even though I see “love” as being more than just the fairy tale kind, I still hesitate to tell someone that I do love them. For example, I don’t typically sign a birthday card “Love, Me” if it is for someone other than family, because I assume that they are going to read more into it than I want I intend. But I know that I’m crazy; thus, the thought of finding that fairy tale love with someone that can tolerate my craziness…. well, it’s mind-boggling!

So how about the rest of you? How do you define or explain love?