Nowhere in our culture do we find greater confusion than that which whirls around our notions of love. Yes --- even greater than the confusion that surrounds health care is the whirlpool of notions surrounding love.
Let me give you a little feel for what I mean…….
“To love and to be loved is to see the sun from both sides” (David Viscott). [What?]
“Love is what happens to a man and a woman who don’t know each other very well” (M. Somerset Maugham). [I feel sorry for my wife --- either she can’t know me or she can’t love me.]
“Love is such a mystery, I cannot find it out, for when I think I’m best resolved, I then am most in doubt” (John O’Brien). [And this is a quote from a work called “Happy Marriage.”]
[The English philosopher Herbert Spencer once wrote: “When people’s knowledge is not in order, the more of it they have, the greater will be their confusion.”]
A little quiz. Below are a dozen statements. Based upon your experience with love, mark each one either True or False.
1. Love at first sight is typical of true love.
2. A man usually falls in love with someone who reminds him of his mother. For a woman, it is someone who reminds her of her father.
3. Well-adjusted people will only be happy when they are in love
4. True love only happens once in a lifetime.
5. It is impossible to hate someone you love.
6. Love is all you need to keep a relationship going.
7. Beautiful women and handsome men make the best partners for love.
8. There is only one right person in this world for you to marry.
9. If someone loves you, then they should be able to sense what your wants and desires are.
10. If what you and your partner have is true love, then you should be very satisfied with each other sexually.
11. If a partner expresses disagreement with an important idea of yours, then it is obvious that the two of you are not meant to be together.
12. Choosing someone to marry is primarily a “matter of the heart.”
Have fun with this little quiz.
In next week’s Love Bytes blog we will be discussing the answers.
