Not the oh-my-gosh-he’s-so-slammin’-hawt kind of love. That kind of love gripped me the first time I saw him (1976. At a high school debate tournament. I beat him.).
The question I struggled with during that infamous spring break trip was, Did I love him with a marriage kind of love? The kind of love that lasts? (Not that he was even considering marriage at that point….but a gal has to be prepared, right?)
On that trip, one afternoon I happened to have a pool-side conversation with an elderly woman. When I asked her how she knew her husband of 50+ years was “the one,” she said something like, “When you see his face in the clouds and hear his voice in the wind, you’ll know.”
I tilted my head into the wind. Zilch. Zippo. Thanks, Grandma Moses.
So, how do we know if what we’re experiencing is love—or love that lasts? For decades, researchers have studied the different experiences of love, and they’ve determined that there are basically two kinds:
- Passionate Love: This love is a wildly powerful emotion that is fueled, in part, by chemicals in the brain and by hormones. The intense sexual attraction and the all-consuming desire for the other person are the hallmarks of this bow-chicka-bow-bow kind of love.
- Companionate Love: This love is a deep, tender, mature, affection for a love partner. Unfolding gradually over time, this love develops between partners who have known each other long enough to have acknowledged and accepted all of the failings, faults, shortcomings, oddities, and quirks of each partner—and still like them.
Hang out this week, and you’ll learn the differences between lust and the I-forever-I-do kinds of love.
Have you ever wondered if your partner was “the one?” How did you determine if she/he was or wasn’t? Or was?
Photo Credit: flickr.com
Photo Credit: flickr.com
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