"Why Do We Love?" by Kenny A

     Love is a feeling not unknown to most. By definition, it is the strong attraction felt for
someone or something, but such powerful emotions can be destructive. Love acts as a driving
force; but in most situations, it is harmful. Most instances of love end in sorrow, with few having
experienced the “true love” read about and sought after in fairytales. Love is simply a painful
reality clouded by a fictional happiness.
     Love is motivating; it acts as a driving force, and yet, it can ironically drag someone
down to a point where they can not do anything. When asking what love is to them, a person in a
long and successful relationship believes: “Love is a powerful emotion that you can’t control. It
has the power to make you feel like you’re on top of the world, and yet, it can take that and so
much more away leaving you thinking: ‘What went wrong?’” This happens surprisingly often, as
a friend was talking about a new girl he met at a party, and just how in love he was with her. He
loved her so much, but she was toying with him, playing with him, just to see how far he would
go with her. He would wait for two hours to find out that she stood him up, and he would go to
all these lengths just for her to ignore him. It came to a point where he was exhausted, mentally
and physically. He could not focus and was a victim to his emotions, due to letting love dictate
his actions, driving him to his own downfall in his pursuit of happiness.
     Love at first sight is a popular occurrence, as many people can become infatuated with
one another in such a short time span; yet as quickly as it occurs, the passionate feelings can
disappear just as fast. The high from love is short lived, and as it fades away, so have many
relationships. Successful marriages reveal that the one factor that keeps them together is the
choice to do so, while most relationships die off after someone does not feel the same attraction
anymore; but can such relationships accurately be defined as love? Love is, after all, the strong
feelings of attraction felt for another. If successful relationships are based off of love, then does
true love really exist, when they’re based off of toleration of one another instead?
     Love is associated with a wide variety of emotions, as such strong feelings cannot be
restricted to happiness. Sorrow, pain, and remorse are all common feelings associated with love.
Sorrow is experienced as an emptiness, that no matter what you do, you cannot fill, because
while time heals all wounds, sorrow is always present in a dull ache that is always there. Pain is
experienced in the relapse after the high felt from love, as a feeling now associated with the
memories you once considered to be happy. Remorse will always be there whenever you
remember them, because love can be taken for granted, and you never know how long you’ll
have someone before they pass away. They can leave you with nothing but your memory of
them, wondering why you weren’t with them more before their death. Love, although a powerful
high, has a far more powerful low.
     Love is commonly thought to be associated with positive emotions and feelings, and yet,
it isn’t. Love is associated with sorrow, with perseverance through pain, and tolerance, as highs
cannot exist without lows, and the higher you are, the more painful the fall. Strong feelings
cannot be restricted to one emotion, and love is the strongest feeling of them all.