Love vs. In Love
Love is a strong emotion that can have various flavors. Being in love is entirely different from loving someone. For example you can love your child, but you are in love with your spouse. The feeling of ‘In love’ is associated with romance.
The feeling of in love entails two aspects being in love and ‘falling in love. When you fall in love, certain neuro-chemicals and hormones are released into the system, which narrow our logic and awareness. This is why some people say that love is blind. On the other hand being in love is different because here your blinders come off, and you can have love as a choice and it requires your resolute attention.
When you say that you love someone or something, you can even say that you love a particular resort or your dog or even your favorite doll. But when you say you are in love, it usually conveys the meaning that you have given your heart to someone and think passionately about that person.
When you become a parent, love automatically flows within you, and though you may not be explicit about it, you will feel upset if your baby is upset and this continues for your lifetime. However, being in love can also be temporary madness.
When the spouses or partners are in love with each other, then slowly the roots start getting deeper. After the initial years, things season out and the leaves fall, but what is left is the tree which you discover is one and not two. So when in love is burned out, love is left.
When you are in love with someone, you feel that your life will fall apart if that person is not there in your life. Your love grows everyday and that person starts having a significant part in your life. You may become dependent on his or her decisions, feel lonely without them or cry when they are not around. However, simply loving someone means that you will protect that person because they mean a lot to you. But your life won’t fall apart if that person is not near you.
Love vs. lust
Love and lust are the two most confused concepts in all cultures around the world. And, yet, reams and reams of literature, innumerable works of art and scores of music have been created on these two concepts.
To begin with, while love is mainly a spiritual and mental feeling, lust is purely based on a physical need, unfortunately where most young people around the world trip. Confusing a physical feeling of lust as an attraction based on genuine emotion emanating from the heart and soul as love leads many young people to marry in haste and regret later.
Love requires discipline and commitment while lust needs no such positive attributes to manifest. Love is focused on the growth, improvement and comfort of the person who is the object of love. On the other hand, lust is focused on the satisfaction of the self and that too, mainly of the physical kind. Though, it may not necessarily be physical alone. Since love requires a commitment, a certain amount of discipline is necessary because you cannot harm the person you love whether physically or emotionally. In lust, no discipline is maintained as the person who is the object of lust becomes a subject of utility to be discarded once the purpose of self-satisfaction is fulfilled.
True Love inspires only positive emotions of joy, peace, serenity and friendship. Love becomes the fountainhead for individual progress and supports the universal positive attributes. On the other hand, lust inspires negative emotions though; a short-term feeling of exhilaration may be confused with love.
According to Eastern traditions of philosophy, love for an individual can translate into a universal love for all mankind and a higher love for god, while, lust can only translate into further depravity. While love leads to spirituality, lust leads to materialism. While love is an evolutionary positive force, lust is a destructive negative force.
Love vs. Obsession
Love is a feeling from the heart, and obsession can be termed as a crazy feeling. Though love and obsession are related in some aspects, the two can never be thought to be the same.
Love is a feeling that is uncontrollable, and a feeling which one has for another person. Love always means caring, supportive and giving. On the other hand, obsession is only a crazy idea where a person cannot think in an affectionate manner.
Love is a feeling when a person wants the best for the one he loves, and always wants them to be happy, even if they are not part of his life. On the other hand, obsession is a crazy feeling where the person wants the other to be his or her only. An obsessed person always thinks of having the beloved one on his or her side all day.
One may give more importance to the other's needs when in love. For the person who is in love, the other’s needs are given prominence. Whereas, an obsessed person gives more importance to his or her needs. Love is something that makes one feel good. Obsession makes one look like an idiot.
It can be said that love has no limits or boundaries. In love, there is complete freedom. Well, obsession is something that has its own limitations, and it is a condition where one feels like they have no freedom.
Obsession is also shrouded with jealousy. On the other hand, love is always pure, and it is the understanding between individuals. Persons, who are in love, trust each other blindly. On the contrary, an obsessive person will always want to know every detail about the other person. This only means that an obsessive relationship lacks trust.
