Love is one of the most precious things in this world – no one can oppose it. Even though you are currently heartbroken and disappointed, I know that deep down you are fully aware that the value of love is great and magnificent.
Love is not always simple, but it is splendid and glorious. It is the most intense feeling in the world, and whether you like to admit it or not, it is one of the essential parts of human life.
Let’s be clear about one thing: I’m not talking about romantic love here only. I’m talking about all the other romantic relationships in your life – they’re all built on pure love, aren’t they?
So what is the power of love? What makes it so special? What is the value of love and what are its benefits?
What is love?
There is more than one definition of love. Some say love is your ability to put someone else’s well-being ahead of your own, while others define it as a strong sense of attachment to another person.
Either way, the point is that the concept of love is not just one feeling. Instead, it’s a range of emotions that give you pleasure. At least, that’s how love should make you feel – positive and good about yourself.
If it hurts, it’s not love
What I want you to always keep in mind is that love doesn’t hurt – loving the wrong person does.
We’ve all been there: we loved someone and ended up feeling ugly or heartbroken because of it. Maybe you fell in love with someone who was forbidden, or the person you gave your heart to didn’t love you back, which ended up getting you into misery.
But true love shouldn’t make you feel that way. In fact, true love doesn’t change you, it doesn’t make you feel bad about yourself, it doesn’t judge, and it certainly isn’t the cause of your tears.
Of course, each of these things happens because you mistake other emotions for love. To be exact, most of the time your feelings can be traced to your ego, not your heart. And when that happens, you are stuck with these consequences.
You see, the true value of love has nothing to do with fears, insecurities, jealousy and pride. These are all the emotions fueled by your ego.
You hold on to anxiety, revenge, pride, energy and think they are all surrounded by love. But this is not the case. And you know why?
Because love is pure and perfect, it pays homage to your soul and ennobles your whole personality – it brings no darkness and no negativity to the table.
What is the moral value of love?
Among other things, love teaches you a lot about morals – principles that help you differentiate right from wrong. Some of the basic moral values are truthfulness, honesty, integrity, appreciation, compromise… And love contains them all.
When you love someone, you won’t lie to them, will you? Instead, you’ll do your best to be as honest and sincere as possible.
Your actions will follow your words because the last thing you want is to disappoint them in any way you can. You will be honorable whether or not your love is next to you at some point.
The same goes for cherishing the one you love. You will deeply admire all the sacrifices this person has made for you. And of course, you will return the favor as a result of valuing what you have.
Once you learn to love someone, you start to embrace each of these core values (and many more). Love simply inspires you to be better and increases your sense of all of these principles.
How many times have you heard of someone who suddenly became nicer to the world after falling in love? How many examples do you know of people who have turned into honest, honorable, and trustworthy people after love inspired them to be better?
You see, if you’ve never loved or been loved, you haven’t had the chance to learn more about these core values. Opening your heart to love and feeling that someone cares about you are the only two things that can teach you that.
Why is love an important value?
Now you probably understand why love is perhaps the most important value of all – because it is a combination of all the other core values.
Whether we like to admit it or not, love is crucial for all of us. You might be heartbroken or hurt right now, so maybe you will say you’ve given up on love. But both of us know that’s far from the truth.
No matter at the moment, how emotionally unavailable you are, that will change over time. You don’t have to consciously want it, but sooner or later you’ll realize that love is the most important thing in the world.
It’s more important than money, social status, and any other temporary satisfaction. Unconditional love is what makes a human life complete – it is the one value that fills your whole being.
Surprising Benefits of Love
There are plenty of benefits to loving, starting with the ones that are good for your physical health, including giving you the best chance to get better and finally, plenty of benefits for your mental health.
1. Primordial human instinct
Love is one of the primary human instincts. As complicated as it may be, it is a basic emotion that goes with anger and fear.
Basically, people are very similar to animals. Just like them, to keep us alive we all have a set of instincts that make our lives much more bearable.
When you think about these instincts, the first thing that comes to your mind is survival. In this case, you’re talking about self-preservation instincts. Simply put, they keep you away from danger, keep you from hurting yourself, and protect you from others as well.
Pain is the result of this survival instinct. As uncomfortable as it can be, it does you a lot of good. Pain tells you which part of your body is injured and helps protect it until you heal.
The following instinct is related to the preservation of the species. As soon as you hit puberty, you have the desire to have sex – otherwise our species would be extinct.
In a way, love can be connected to it. After all, you want to sleep with the person you’re in love with, don’t you?
Nevertheless, love is mostly part of the third group of instincts: social instincts. It is linked to your desire to belong as well as your desire for social contact with other people.
This is love – you want to be in touch with the people you love deeply. And what about romantic love?
Well, it’s the perfect combination of these two primitive instincts. When you’re in love with someone, you want to have sex with them, but you also want to have other types of contact with them, don’t you?
2. Self-discovery
Another benefit of love is that it leads you on the path of self-discovery. It’s the emotion that brings out the best in you – the emotion that inspires you to be your true self.
When you fall in love, you learn a lot about yourself. Sometimes it helps you discover things that even you didn’t know about yourself.
Did you know you could be so generous and kind before you started loving someone? Did you know how much you can take? Could you even imagine, until now, sacrificing something for the sake of someone else?
I suppose not. Well, love has helped you figure it all out.
In the same way that you get to know the other person as you learn to love them, you also have the chance to meet each other. You discover your personality layer by layer, including the ones you never dreamed of.
Most importantly, love for others brings you closer to loving yourself. Once you see that someone else is taking care of you, you understand that you are kind.
Once you hear someone say to you, “I love you,” you also need to say these magic words to yourself. Finally, you start to take care of yourself because you see that you are worth it.
3. Health benefits
There is no doubt about one thing: the power of love benefits your physical and mental health. I’m sure you know the latter, but maybe you weren’t familiar with the fact that it really influences your brain in the most positive way.
According to some studies, people who love and are loved in return have fewer problems with high blood pressure – and we all know how dangerous it can be. You feel calmer around someone you love, so your heart rate naturally slows down.
In addition, love is proven to be a natural remedy for pain. There really is something to hold in your loved one’s hand when you are in physical pain. In fact, their mere touch makes the area of the brain responsible for pain less responsive.
Let’s talk about physiological effects. I’m sure you’ve heard of oxytocin, or what some like to call the love hormone.
Oxytocin is released in your brain when you are in love, when you cuddle with someone, or when you sleep with the person you care about. Basically, it’s one of the hormones that make you happier.
It is a proven fact that lovers cope better with stressful situations, are less prone to anxiety, and have no trouble chasing their fears. What’s more, your loved ones can help you cope with depression much more effectively than you can on your own.
Come on, you’ve already liked it, and you know exactly what I’m talking about. How many times have you been paralyzed with fear? But then all of a sudden the person you love tells you that everything will be fine.
And even though you’re keenly aware that they don’t have a magic wand that can make your life perfect, somehow, you start to feel calmer. You are not alone and you are not afraid of anything as long as you have them to hold your hand.
When that person is around you, you feel like you can take on anyone and anything that comes your way. You get this incredible inner strength and power that you immediately start to feel invincible.
4. Motivation
Love motivates you to do and be better. If you’ve already lost the will to live, the people you care about (and care about you in return) will give you the boost you need.
Make no mistake, I am in no way suggesting that the person you love will make you feel like you are not good enough. In fact, they will like who you are.
They won’t make any effort to change you, nor will they try to turn you into someone you are not. But you will be the one who has the desire to engage in real personal improvement.
You will start to see your own flaws – but not in terms of judgment or denigration of the person you once were. You will just begin to notice your imperfections, and you will strive to find ways to be the best possible version of yourself.
Suddenly you will have the energy to turn your life upside down. Remember how you plan to go to the gym for the last hundred Mondays? Or how could you not get yourself to take that final exam that has been bothering you for years?
In fact, that motivation doesn’t have to be something big. If love makes it easier for you to get up in the morning every day, that’s more than enough.
But love will bring you much more. Believe me, it’s the force that drives you. The force that makes you feel like you can move mountains with your bare hands.
It is the force that gives you energy that you didn’t even know was possible. The force that encourages you and gives you inspiration for each new day that comes.
5. It feels good
Finally, it’s pretty clear and simple: love makes you feel good. It makes you a happier person in the world. It makes you ecstatic and happy with your own life.
It brings you joy and makes you smile. It makes you feel like you’re about to fly.
Love makes you feel safe and protected. It gives you optimism and gives you hope that there is still light at the end of the tunnel.
Why is this so? Well, according to science, love releases another hormone in your brain – a hormone called dopamine. Dopamine is also known as “the hormone of happiness” – the one that awakens all of these positive emotions inside of you.
Well, even if that’s the only real value of love, wouldn’t that be more than enough?
