A husband and a wife, a boyfriend and girlfriend, a mother and her child, two best friends, what emotion is explicit among these bonds? A genuine and sincere friendship no doubt, however, the prominent emotion I will examine is love, four different varieties of love. First of all, what is love? According to Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, love is a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. Is it just an unexplainable feeling that develops in time, or is it something more? Today, we seemingly mistaken love as just being romantic, not taking into consideration the other kinds of love that do exist. Those other kinds of love are security, friendship, romantic, and unconditional love.

Which love would you say appeals to you most? Wait, before you answer that let me dissect these types of love, and then you can decide. Let’s start off with security love; this is a needy and desirable love that you and I crave to survive. It is the feeling of being cared for, having the sense of protection. Studies of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, shows that people have died from broken hearts in regards to this lack of natural affection they long for. Imagine that!

Another type of love is friendship. This love happens often and is unexpected. Everyone has a best friend, either the same or opposite sex that they pour their hearts out to, and sometimes emotions tend to grow even though you try to fight it. Down the line, this friendship grows with passion and sometimes feelings are misinterpreted and mistaken. Next thing you know, the bond that you once shared is ruined. Hearts are broken and in rare cases things go back to normal, wishing you never gave in, in the first place. I personally underwent this type of cliché. It started out with one innocent kiss that in turn, kindled the fire of the other. What I had thought to be harmless fun was damaging to the other party, thus resulting in awkward and uncomfortable feelings toward each other. It took nearly over two years for us to have a decent conversation, disregarding the topic of, “us.” A ruined friendship, yes, but only time can heal the hurt.

Everyone can amount to the feeling of romantic love. The love that sweeps you off you feet, the saying, “love at first sight.” The feeling of butterflies in your stomach and weakened knees. This kind of love is the anticipated type. One in which you just love the idea of being in love but don’t even love the person you think you are in love with. This is more of an infatuation and lustful kind of love, a foolish and unreasoning passion that wears off after a while. This feeling can result into sexual intercourse and nothing more. The honest term for this situation is, used and abused. Is this the kind of love that appeals to you? Regrettably, it does to many people in reasons just for the temporary enjoyment.

In spite of the three types of love I had clarified, one more type that captivates my attention is, unconditional love- true love. The genuine love that lasts forever. I recall the words of a wise friend who once said, “True love doesn’t have a happy ending, because true love never ends.” This is the kind of love that we live to die for. The love that is timeless, pure, and one that nothing can destroy. The love that covers up a multitude of sin and can never fail. The love that isn’t an imitation or paper roses. The kind of love that brings out the best in you. That is the kind of love many today fail to attain. Many today rush into things so carelessly that they forget the smallest yet most vital understanding of love. The unconditional love just waiting for its chance to be recognized. The love that is hiding behind the veil, waiting to be uncovered. Is that the love you yearn for? For better or worse, that is the unveiling facts of love.