THE TRUE MEASURE OF LOVE IS COMMITMENT AND TRUST NOT PHYSICAL ATTRACTION

February in the northern half of our planet is the month of love. But what is love? Love has been described as an intense feeling of affection, an emotion or an emotional state. In ordinary use, it usually refers to interpersonal love. Probably due to its psychological relevance, love is one of the most common themes in art and music. In all human cultures, cultural differences make any universal definition difficult to establish. There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved. Love is essentially an abstract concept, much easier to experience than to explain. Interpersonal love refers to love between human beings. It is a more potent sentiment than a simple liking for another. Unrequited love refers to those feelings of love which are not reciprocated. There are many ways to express passionate love without sex. Affection, emotional intimacy and shared interests and experiences are common in friendships and kinships of all human beings.

Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, much like hunger or thirst. Helen Fisher, a leading expert on the topic of love, divides the experience of love into three partly-overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including pheromones, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These act similar to amphetamines, stimulating the brain's pleasure center and leading to side-effects such as an increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement.

Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. Psychologist Robert Sternberg formulated a triangular theory of love that said love has three different components: intimacy, commitment, and passion. Hendrick and Hendrick found men tend to be more playful and highly emotional; whereas women tend to be affectionate. It is possible to feel romantic love for more than one person at a given time but it cannot be very practical for all concerned.