by Sandra Piddock

Created on: February 25, 2010

There's a 1970's song by Jim Capaldi called 'Love Hurts,' and the line that really resonates with me is, 'Love is like a cloud - holds a lot of rain.' When you're in love, the tears come in equal quantities with the laughter - actually, sometimes the tears are in the lead. So why does love hurt so much?

Love is a wonderful feeling, and when we're lucky enough to find someone we truly love who loves us in return, right alongside the happiness of being in love is a feeling of dread that something will happen to snatch it all away. The sensations this dread can cause - palpitations, trembling, fear - can manifest themselves in physical pain, or at least what appears to be physical pain. Yes, it's illogical to think and feel like that, but whoever said love was logical in the first place?

When you love someone, you think of them all the time and you want to be with them all the time. Of course, this isn't always possible, and the longing for your loved one can be so strong it feels like a physical ache, right in the very core of you. This is no exaggeration - I feel like that when I'm apart from the man I love, and at 57, I'm hardly a lovestruck teenager. I've been there, done that, and got several t-shirts, but it still hurts to be apart.

Then there's the unsatisfied physical desire. When you can't be with the one you love, your body feels as if it's on fire. Okay, it probably feels like that when you're together as well, but at least then you can do something about it. This feeling isn't pure lust, although that's a part of it - lust disappears along with the object of that lust. Have you ever read a line in a romantic novel like 'Her body ached with desire for him,' and laughed out loud? Yes? So have I, but let me tell you, it's no laughing matter when you experience that feeling. And you will, when you're deeply in love.

So, love hurts, and 'Love is like a cloud - holds a lot of rain.' But we should also remember that every cloud has a silver lining. While love definitely hurts, it's also the most incredible, beautiful thing that can happen between two people. So be prepared for the pain of love, but make the most of the pleasure of true love as well.

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