by Angeles

Created on: May 15, 2008

Is Love Enough

When asking is love is enough, we immediately equate the word love to mean romantic love. Yet there are so many other kinds of love. There is the love of a family, the love of friends, and the love for your children. This list can be as long as your arm. So the answer to the question is more complex than a simple yes or no.

In the case of romantic love, it is not always enough. While you may love someone, even deeply, is it really also right then to assume that you are meant to "be together"? I do not agree with that notion. Even when you assume the love is mutual, there are many circumstances that may prevent the lovers from being together. Perhaps the timing isn't right, perhaps one is married, and perhaps there is distance and geography between the lovers. These are just possible circumstances that can prevent love from being enough, not to mention all the character defects that can get in the way of romantic love as well.

The love of friends can have it's shortcomings as well. Some friends love you when everything is right in their world, or they need you in their life for the time being. But add in a boyfriend, a husband or children and the friend's time and energy can be severally challenged. We only have so much time in a day. There are those friends, too, that while you are not able to spend a lot of time together, when you do you immediately pick up as if no time passed. Now that is that is the one of the best kinds of love.

Even the love for your family (parents & siblings) will have its limits. While we may love them immensely, we still cannot allow them to mistreat us, repeatedly take advantage of us or not treat us with the overall trust and respect that comes with a true and real love. There are those situations within our family of origin relationships that we may need to practice tough love by teaching them appropriate ways to treat us.

The love for your children is probably the most real and lasting love. While circumstances may dictate absence or estrangement at times, a mother will always love her child and welcome it back into her arms of forgiveness upon their return. Other types of love cannot always provide such a level of forgiveness between individuals.

We, as humans, are amazing creatures when it comes to our emotions, our ability to give love and the ways we express the desires of our heart. While we have an amazing capacity for love, our psyche can keep us from giving or receiving it as fully as possible.

Is love enough? No, not very often. But we certainly wouldn't be able to live long or well without it.

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