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What is love? By definition and put simply, love is an intense feeling of attachment or belonging. Like everything though, I believe that there is more to the emotion of love than this, that there are component parts that contribute to true love. It is my contention that true love is composed of seven, for lack of a better word, principles. I intend to explore these principles to better understand my understanding of love.

Without delving too deeply into the religious aspects of love, let me just express that it is also my belief that love, true love, is pure and without flaw. I believe that this love comes from a greater source than the love that we mere human beings express for one another or creation as a whole.

As I reflect on my views about love, I think also about the acronym that I use as a play on the word reflect to better remember what it is that my acronym stands for. R.H.E.F.L.C.T. in my love dictionary stands for Respect, Honesty, Empathy, Faith, Loyalty, Commitment and Trust.

It is my belief that in order to love someone we have to be able to assume that we at the least feel these seven things about or for that person. It is not necessary that this feeling or feelings be reciprocated to love unless that person also states to love you. Reciprocity does not equal love, for true and proper love is unconditional. Even when dealing with the "mundane" form of love, reciprocity should play no part.

In general, most people see love in various ways, none of which have any standard variable other than a "feeling". Albeit this may be an intense feeling but it is also a mostly indescribable feeling. What I personally think of when most people try to define love is infatuation.

Love is an action word and behind the actions, which can better define love than words can, are basic action/emotions and principle/emotions that even better define the conscious or unconscious thinking that detail this behavior called love.
According to my thinking or theory love is defined by principle/emotions and expressed through action/emotions that are also always beneficial in some manner, I would like to take a look at these actions and principles in detail. Let me also caution that the order in which these actions and principles may occur can possibly vary, it is also my belief that they will or should naturally occur in the order in which I am about to lay them out.

From here on out I will refer to these action-principle/emotions as A.P.E.'s. This is also an acronymic play on a

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