Take a moment to think about someone close to you: husband, wife, daughter, mother, boyfriend, girlfriend. Then take another moment and ask yourself what this person means to you. Is that love that you feel? Do you love the person you're thinking about?
Allow me to challenge you: prove it. Prove your love.
How would you prove it? Would you cook and care for him? Would you be by her side day and night if she were sick? Would you give her a million dollars and 1 carat diamond ring? Would you sing for him a beautiful love song? Would you write poetry and send it to her with a bouquet of flowers?
All this and anything else you think of as an answer, i'm sorry, doesn't prove anything. Anything that can be done without love as an excuse cannot be used to prove the existence of love, though some may believe that it may. Some believe so strongly in this that they believe love is absent without these "symbols" or "acts" of love - if he truly loved me, he would ___________ (fill the blank with an endearing act). While it is important to show a person that you love him through kindness and appreciation, it is not possible to assume that such acts necessarily mean the presence of love.
What is love, you may ask. I have an idea, but i don't have enough words to describe it. And i don't doubt that each of you have an idea about what it is too, so i won't presume to tell you what i think it should be. But as a guide, i reckon poets such as Byron, Marlowe and Frost have probably got it mostly right:
bq. When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever the years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder, thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this. - Lord Byron, "When We Two Parted"
So if there is no way to prove love, how do you know when you're in love? Think of this: if there is no way to scientifically prove the existence of God, how do you know He exists? The answer to the two questions is the same: faith. When you believe you're in love, then you probably are. The signs of love are within, not without. While it cannot be proven with actions and words, it exists with emotion and thoughts - when you look at her, all you can think about are your plans with her for the future. When you look at him, all you can feel is how lucky you are. When you are together, it doesn't take words or deeds to feel just right, that feeling that you belong - the very same feeling you get when you're sitting at home in your favourite chair. That's love, i'll say. That's love, i'll claim - some things don't need to be proven. They really just are.
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