It’s that feeling you get when that certain person smiles at you. You may have had the worst day of your life, but it’s the reason all the bad stuff melts away, and once again the softness of innocence overwhelms you with just one glimpse of that person. It’s what causes people to stay up all night doing nothing but thinking about their troubled friend. It’s the way a child runs gleefully to the door when his dad returns from work and how he throws his arms around his father’s neck to greet him. It’s the expression on a groom’s face when he sees his bride for the first time on their wedding day. It’s even the way a dog will put his head on your knee when he senses you’re sad.
It’s called love. Love is that inexplicable, indescribable thing that tantalizes, comforts and encourages the human soul. It can calm even the stormiest of hearts and resolve the ugliest of conflicts. It is the mystery that can bring family members together during the busyness and craziness of life. It’s the courage that a young boy gains as he holds his girlfriend’s hand for the first time and the jolt of lightning the girl feels when she sees that guy’s name on the Caller ID. It’s the glue that reattaches friendships and bonds marriages.
Some people associate love with affection, acts of service or word of mouth. My dad shows love for me by making sure my car is running OK. He makes sure I am taken care of. My mom shows love by saving every bit of extra money she has so I can come to college, and she always cooks my favorite meals when I go home.
Shakespeare so eloquently wrote, “Love is not altered when it alteration finds.”
Love is more than just an emotion that is tossed about with every turn of the head. It is a commitment-a commitment that says, “I don’t just love you based on what you do for me or when it’s convenient to love you, but I love you no matter what.” It is saying that you care about another person no matter what happens. You care about every part of that person’s life.
I once had Love speak to me in a card I received: “There’s nothing that you could say or not say, do or not do, start or not start, finish or not finish, accomplish or not accomplish, that will make me love you any less.”
Genuine love says, “I care about you. I care about every part of your life, and I’m always here for you. Even if we haven’t talked in 50 years, I’m still here for you, wherever I am or wherever you are. I am here if you get to a point where you can’t take it anymore and you want someone to talk to-or even if you don’t want to talk; I’m here if you need someone to sense how you’re feeling. You won’t always have to say something. I already know. And even if I don’t exactly know-I know. I know that life’s hard, and sometimes it can seem unbearable. Sometimes you need someone to know that you feel that way. I know that sometimes you don’t need an opinion or advice-you only need an ear or a shoulder. I have both. I love you for who you are and not for who I or anyone else wants you to be or thinks you should be. I love you for your good points, bad points, strong points and weak points because they have made you who you are. Who you are is exactly who I love.”
Love is that ear that listens, that shoulder that absorbs tears. It is the light in the dark abyss. It’s the pebble that, when skipped across a river, makes infinite waves across the surface that penetrate deep into the earth beneath. Once put into action, love creates a wave that cannot be stifled. It is that stomach-tightening, roller-coaster feeling that overwhelms you when a sweetheart approaches, but it’s so much more than that.
It’s the sweet that makes the bitter bearable and the bitter that makes the sweet more appreciated. Love knows no age, color, gender or background. It’s the manifestation of truth and beauty, the conqueror of all hopelessness and pain. It never gives up and never dies. Love is the true necessity of life.
Today, on Valentine’s Day, tell someone you love them. Trust me, it will make their day.
Courtney Hall is a freshman communication major.