What is Love?

Warning: Before you read this, realize this might be about you, the reader. This may go against your beliefs on relationships. This may make you a tad angry or this could help you out in your future relationships. Whether you'll want to accept this or not, that choice is up to you.

So, what exactly is love? Many people have began to question that word: Haddaway, Brian Fantana, John Lennon, and Nat King Cole. Many young teens seem to be falling in love faster than I can say supercalafragalisticexpialidotious (and that's even harder to spell). Webster defines love as: a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. God defines love as patient, kind, and peaceful. So no matter who says what love is, it all comes down to one thing...patience. Many people feel that they need to rush love. They make it seem so easy. Love is omnipresent. No matter where you are in life, love will always be there, so there is no need to create cinematic love. The word "love" is probably one of the most used words in our vocabulary. We use it to describe a feeling towards a person, place or thing, like a noun. We always say, "Oh, I love that dress" or "I love that place". Since the word "love" is used so much, no one really takes it seriously. It's just being thrown out there as fast as we spend money. People will say they love you for doing them a favor and the common response would be, "I know" (in a humorous manner). But did you know that there are four different types of love?
One type of love is...
Security Love: which is a basic need for one's survival.
Another type of love is...
Friendship Love: This is the type of love that you have with someone who you can open up to about anything and always feel comfortable around.
Next, there's...
Romantic Love: Most people experience this type of love many times in their life. It is when you see that person for the first time and he/she makes your knees go weak or gives you butterflies in your stomach.i.e. "Love at first sight”. Most people don’t even love the person they think they are in love with…they fall in love with the idea if being in love. This is more of a lustful kind of love, it wears off after a while.
Finally, there is...
Unconditional Love: This is the type of love that is sincere and will last forever.

For the longest time, I never understood the word, love. I'm still having a hard time comprehending it, but I know exactly how it feels. ( I am only human afterall) I'm the kind of person who doesn't believe in "high school love". What I mean is, I don't believe people can fall in love with someone at such a young age. This is true especially towards young girls in their mid teen years. (Girls, don't hate me. Read on, it gets better. Trust me.)They have a syndrom that society calls, "Boy Crazy". They will seem to fall in love with the first boy they come in contact with, mainly because that's what they feel at the moment. But later on down the road, another "lover" will come into place and the love cycle will start over. But look at me, I'm "Girl Crazy". I do the exact same thing. I'm no different. But that doesn't mean I fall in love with every girl I come in contact with. People, I know we have our hormones to blame for our actions. But don't think it's ok to make googly eyes at at passing guy or girl. Doing that makes a person even more lustful. (But let's keep moving on)For some reason, people have the need to say I love you in a relationship. I guess it's a way to keep the relationship going without the fear of an approaching break up. But really, the more you strive for a long lasting relationship, the more likely it will fail. Most of the time, early "I love you" relationships break off after a few weeks or months (not all the time though). That happens because the person only feels in love and they realize that they don't know anything about the other person. I can tell anyone right now, from experience, that saying "I love you" in a short term relationship isn't the smartest thing to do. I say that because the word, "I love you" should be for the one you really do love and the one you plan on spending your life with. I can't see how so many people can love another person as much as they did the other. Myspace is the biggest way to express one's love for another. We see the status stating, "In a Relationship" or my favorite, "Married". Young teens are already saying that they are married when in fact they've only been dating for maybe a few months or a year. Did you know that only 5 of 100 people will marry their high school sweethearts? That's not a lot. And for the people who did marry their high school sweet hearts, most of them ended in divorce. That's truly sad and disappointing. If anyone wants to have a healthy, happy, and satisfying relationship, they have to accept the fact that it will NOT LAST. Whether you are 14, 15, 16, or 18 years old, it will not last. I know. I wrong about your relationship. Your relationship is different from your friends. Your bf is so great and you love him very much. You both have everything in common and he makes you the happiest person in the world. Hate to burst your bubble, but that has nothing to do with true love. You may refuse to accept this, but I got to tell you, it is true. You got to accept this fact that it won't last. If you don't accept it, dating will destroy you. You will be crushed, obliberated, heartbroken until God knows when. Once you do accept this fact, you will have a happier relationship. You'llbe ready for whatever comes your way. Like I mentioned before, love is patient. It should never be rushed into.

For all you people who are reading this and are saying, "What does this guy know about love? He doesn't know me? Everything he is saying is a lie! He's probably never even been in love before". You're probably right. I don't know you. Everyone has there own definition of love. I'll give it a shot at what I think love is. Here's my definition of what love is:

Love is Hopeful. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is when your hands shake and begin to sweat when the one you love is present. Love is when the words slip right from your mind when you want to speak. Love is when you have this overwhelming joy bursting inside of you and you hope it never leaves. Love is when everything seems to remind you of that person. Love is when you lay in bed at night and wonder if he/she is dreaming about you just as you dream about that person. Love is when you'll wait forever for him/her. Love is when that person begins to make you figure out your own life. Love is when you respect each other. Love is when you'll always be there for each other. Love is when you'd never close your eyes and miss one moment with each other. Love is when you think about his/her feelings before yours. Love is when you'd die for that person. Love is absolutely knowing you'll spend the rest of your life with each other. Love is never giving up on each other, no matter how bad things may seem. Love is following the words and wisdom of Gods will. And of course, love is making each other feel loved.

Now, here's my definition of what love is not:
Love is not about sex. Love is not about a sexy, curvy body with nice breasts. Love is not about a hot, muscular body with a pretty face. Love is not critical. Love is not always telling the girl she is beautiful no matter what. Love is not buying gifts for each other. Love is not instant. Love is not around every corner. Love is not shameful. Love is not abusive. Love is not controlling. Love is not manipulative. Love is not demeaning. Love is not about having things in common with each other. Love is not a romantic Hollywood movie. Love is not what you think it is. Love is not as easy as anyone makes it out to be. Love is not saying "I love you" 24/7.

I still have years before I can fully understand this thing, called love. Who knows when that love will come? It can come tomorrow, the next day, the next week, the next month, or even the next year.

If you have doubts about your relationship, don't worry. God has designed someone just for you. You will find the one who will bring you the happiness you deserve. As we get older, the dating rules seem to change. So what you believe in right now, will no longer apply to you as you grow up from the teen years.

In the words of John Lennon: "Love is wanting to be loved".

The Greatest Memories

For most people, their best memories are either experiencing their first kiss, graduating high school, getting married, or witnessing the birth of their children. We all have our own definition of "the greatest memory". So far, during my lifetime I have experienced three of the greatest moments that I'll never forget. These are the moments that just make a person feel nostalgic, but also filled with an incomprehensible amount of happiness.

Hawaii Band Trip 2006: In the Spring of 2006, the Sierra High Symphonic and Jazz Band, along with the Choir, had the privilege of flying down to Hawaii for a week. For me, the trip was absolutely unforgettable. The trip was filled with excitement and also exhaustion. We got to eat anywhere we wanted and go anywhere we desired. During our free time, we all gathered at the Waikiki beach for some ocean swimming. But when we were busy, we performed for the Hawaiian audience. We performed at the Polynesian cultural center and even at Pearl Harbor, aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. Each day, I would hang out with my friend David and Miriam. Miriam and I would text day and night, especially when we were riding in separate buses to our performance place. I felt like we were on tour. My greatest memories of the Hawaii trip were: The night we explored Honolulu and ate at Tony Roma's, the Luau at the cultural center, dinner at Planet Hollywood, and especially hanging out at the Dole pineapple plantation. The Dole pineapple plantation was absolutely my favorite day out of the entire week. Overall, this was the best trip I had ever been on. Once in a while, I'll have a flashback of the trip or I'll see something that reminds me of it.



4th of July, 2006: When ever I think about fourth of July, I always think about the movie, "The Sandlot". If you haven't seen the movie, there's a scene where the kids are playing baseball at night while the fireworks are going off in the distance. Then the characters begin to move in slow motion while Ray Charles is softly singing, "America, the Beautiful". Watching that scene always makes me go back to my 4th of July.
I woke up early that day, around 7 or so to go see the 4th of July parade with my friend, Miriam. We began the day with a waffle breakfast. We then sat and watched the parade march down Main Street. After the parade was over, I went back to Miriam's house and hung out with her and her friend, Boomer. We went for a swim in her pool to get cooled off from the scorching heat. Eventually, Boomer left and it was just me and Miriam again. We both decided to call some of our friends up and hang out with them. Me and my friends walked around the block a few times just acting like teens. After spending the entire day goofing off, we went to the high school to watch the fireworks shoot off. We all went home thinking that the night was over, but my friend Matt called. We decided to have a late night snack at Denny's diner. My friend Reggie ate someone elses food that they did not finish. It was the most hilarious thing to have witnessed.
So to make a long story short, I spent the entire day with Miriam, then hung out with my other friends, watched the fireworks, and ate at Denny's...sounds like a very fun day to me.

State Youth Conference 2006: This was the memory to top the entire year. During the end of December, 2006, me and the rest of the church youth group attended a State Youth Conference in Long Beach, CA. Before we actually reached Long Beach, we made a pit stop at a little place I'd like to call, "the happiest place on Earth". I hung out with my friends Matt, Reggie, David, Miriam, Alyssa, Aaron, and literally my oldest buddy, Dale. Although we didn't go on many rides, we still had a blast. At first me, Matt, Reggie, and Dale, got food poisoning from the Disney fried Chicken. So during the entire time at the park we all felt weird. But after that horrible experience was over everything was good again.
The next day, we headed off to Long Beach for the conference. Everyday, my friends and I would eat at this really good Mexican grill, called Sharky's. The food was cheap and very tasty. After we were done eating, we would go back to the hotel and play some Guitar Hero 2. Of course, we weren't allowed to bring any electronics such as video games, but we were very sneaky. Eventually, we would have a gathering in our room waiting to play the game. We ordered pizza and made a mess of the room. While others had "cabin leaders" me and my friend had the hotel room to ourselves. That's why we had the party's.



So that wraps up my greatest memories. All of them happened during the same year and what a great year that was. I know I'll have even more great memories down the road of life.