"I Love You". These three words can be easy to say, but can be difficult to understand as they hold different meanings. "What more can it possibly mean?" A person might wonder, but saying "I Love You" does not necessarily mean that a person is showing his or her love. Ironically, it is more like he or she is showing another kind of feeling; which is called infatuation. Love and infatuation can easily be mistaken for each other, but even though most people think that they are the same, being in love and being infatuated have major differences in terms of their basis, characteristics, and effects.
Ideal guys and ideal girls, this is what a person searching for "love" usually looks out for; but can it really be called love once you meet your ideal partner? Most people think so, but that feeling cannot really be called love; it is infatuation. As Samson Itoje stated in his 2007 article, infatuation is another kind of feeling that focuses more on a person's physical aspect and satisfaction. When a person claims to be in love at first sight is a concrete example of being infatuated. How can a person say that he or she is already in love when he or she just saw the person? It just proves that the person was just being infatuated with the other person's appearance. Real love, on the other hand, is not just focused on a person's physical aspect. As Samson Itoje also stated in his 2007 article, real love is mostly focused on reality; it also involves making sacrifices for the sake of the other. This kind of feeling can usually be found in "unexpected" couples, or couples that most people find incompatible. When people see an ugly guy going out with a beautiful girl, or vice-versa, they usually say that it is real love. Why? Because people can be assured that it is not based on physical attraction. Cruel, yes, but it is the truth; hence the saying called "Real Love is Blind".
Basis is not the only difference between love and infatuation, they still differ when it comes to their characteristics. Infatuation is selfish; it is primarily interested in personal "feelings". Also, infatuation can easily be weakened by time and separation. Infatuated people have the tendency to forget about people whom they spend less time with. On the contrary, real love is selfless; it seeks more to give than to receive. It unselfishly seeks the highest good for the other person. Also, unlike infatuation, real love is strengthened by time and separation, but it does not mean that there is no pain in it. Rather, there is much more pain in separation when a person is really in love.
The last notable difference between these two feelings are their effects. After being infatuated, people usually feel that they had wasted time. Eventually, they realize that they did not really fall in love. There are also times when people feel irritated as they think that they just made a fool out of themselves for believing that they had been in love. Being in love, however, makes a person feel satisfied and committed. It makes people appreciate life even more; sometimes, they even feel as if they can live forever as long as they are with their partners.
In the end, infatuation and real love are two very different feelings, but it does not mean that one cannot lead to another. Infatuation can eventually lead to real love; it just depends on a person's choice and effort in his or her life.
References:
http://psychcentral.com/library/love_infatuation.html
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/28170
Ideal guys and ideal girls, this is what a person searching for "love" usually looks out for; but can it really be called love once you meet your ideal partner? Most people think so, but that feeling cannot really be called love; it is infatuation. As Samson Itoje stated in his 2007 article, infatuation is another kind of feeling that focuses more on a person's physical aspect and satisfaction. When a person claims to be in love at first sight is a concrete example of being infatuated. How can a person say that he or she is already in love when he or she just saw the person? It just proves that the person was just being infatuated with the other person's appearance. Real love, on the other hand, is not just focused on a person's physical aspect. As Samson Itoje also stated in his 2007 article, real love is mostly focused on reality; it also involves making sacrifices for the sake of the other. This kind of feeling can usually be found in "unexpected" couples, or couples that most people find incompatible. When people see an ugly guy going out with a beautiful girl, or vice-versa, they usually say that it is real love. Why? Because people can be assured that it is not based on physical attraction. Cruel, yes, but it is the truth; hence the saying called "Real Love is Blind".
Basis is not the only difference between love and infatuation, they still differ when it comes to their characteristics. Infatuation is selfish; it is primarily interested in personal "feelings". Also, infatuation can easily be weakened by time and separation. Infatuated people have the tendency to forget about people whom they spend less time with. On the contrary, real love is selfless; it seeks more to give than to receive. It unselfishly seeks the highest good for the other person. Also, unlike infatuation, real love is strengthened by time and separation, but it does not mean that there is no pain in it. Rather, there is much more pain in separation when a person is really in love.
The last notable difference between these two feelings are their effects. After being infatuated, people usually feel that they had wasted time. Eventually, they realize that they did not really fall in love. There are also times when people feel irritated as they think that they just made a fool out of themselves for believing that they had been in love. Being in love, however, makes a person feel satisfied and committed. It makes people appreciate life even more; sometimes, they even feel as if they can live forever as long as they are with their partners.
In the end, infatuation and real love are two very different feelings, but it does not mean that one cannot lead to another. Infatuation can eventually lead to real love; it just depends on a person's choice and effort in his or her life.
References:
http://psychcentral.com/library/love_infatuation.html
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/28170
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