Essay on Love as the Life-Changing Power
Love has many names and many forms. You can love your partner, parents, motherland, God, and a movie genre. Biologists claim that love is a complex chemical reaction which does not last longer than a couple of years. Psychologists argue that love is the realization of the most important instinct of procreation. Whereas there is no universal definition which would satisfy both idealists and materialists, what can be stated for sure, love obviously plays an important role in everyone’s life, stimulating growth, healing wounds and working miracles.
People learn to love in their families, subconsciously inheriting models of love from their parents. The findings of numerous studies have shown that the relations between a mother and a child have a significant impact upon individual’s self-esteem, relations with others and ability to love. At the same time, other family members contribute to the child’s system of values too. Thus, open and caring relations in a family usually result in developed communication skills and a positive picture of life in children. There is evidence that the first behavioral models are learnt even before the baby is born, observing the would-be mother’s relations with others. The relations of parents are perceived as a norm, and most children will subconsciously try to reproduce a similar pattern in their grown up lives. At the same time, the claims that kids of divorced parents are more likely to divorce or kids raised in same sex marriages are more likely to be gay do not have the necessary support by the evidence. Even though a child learns to love in a family and relations with parents play an important role in personal development for the rest of life, a person chooses his/her own ways to love and be loved.
Love has many languages and sometimes people have serious difficulties understanding each other. For instance, women are known to be more romantic, paying more attention to trifles and spiritual dimension, while men are more materialistic and focus mainly on the physical realm. Even though the gender roles are less stereotyped in the emancipated world, passionate and romantic love is not enough for building a satisfying and lasting relationship. Despite the romantic claims that words are not necessary, poor communication, the lack of empathy and various misunderstandings can cause serious discomfort and suffering to partners. Respect to the feelings of others and proper understanding of own needs can help build a caring and empowering relationship.
Inspiring people to write poems, change their personalities, and do something close to impossible, love is a great power which however can do good or bad. Since ancient times, this feeling motivated people to invest their time and effort in self-development. On the other hand, the one-way love sometimes makes people commit crimes or do harm to themselves. The classic scenario of young lovers Romeo and Juliet who commit a suicide because of their forbidden love and utmost misunderstanding is sometimes observed in real life. When the power of love becomes destructive, it can result in personal dramas or even serious harm to others. Depressions and personality disorders are only a few negative results of unhealthy relationships. In some cases, women or men undergo physical, psychological or emotional abuse in a relationship. More relationship education and psychological training on what caring relationships should look like could help prevent many problems and save many families and even lives.
With all its many languages, forms and definitions, love is a powerful factor changing lives, giving hope and motivating people to keep going. Learnt in early childhood, love remains in the heart of a person forever, giving place to romantic foolishness and heroic deeds even in this post-industrialized world.