love and all that comes with it

There are many ways to define love, even in the dictionary. But here are the three first definitions of love taken from the dictionary:

1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance.
3. a. Sexual passion.
b. Sexual intercourse.
c. A love affair.

And according to the bible, this would be considered love:

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
... But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I'd hate to be the one writing down the dictionary definitions because in all honesty, love is different for everyone.
However, I feel as if the bible has the better view of love.

Love is not just holding hands, kissing or hugging.
Love isn't just making eye contact or hanging out for a few hours.

Love definitely isn't just saying "I love you".

Love can be expressed in over thousands of ways, and love means thousands of things.
One never knows love until they experience it.
And I don't know if I have. I'd like to say I have, because by my definition of love - I really have.
Love between family members, close friends and maybe, sometimes, even if for a short while, a significant other.

Love is love. How can you change that, or replace that, with anything else?
Love is precious and it takes time.
Love doesn't not come around too often.
Love isn't money - you can't just hand it to someone. You can't just expect something back.

Love and all that comes with it - a mixture of good and bad, happy and sad, exciting and frightening - we must be grateful for it.
Without love, where would the world be?
Love has helped the world turn.
Love has helped the world change.

Love is not just a feeling - it's an experience.
Love is not just a stop along the way - it's the destination.
Love is a journey that grows step by step, bit by bit ... only getting better.

Love isn't just between one man and one woman.
Love can be between a man and a man or a woman and woman.
Love can be between a mother and her child, or a father and his child.
Love can be between a friend and a friend.
Love can be between a brother and a sister, a sister and a sister, a sister and a brother, a brother and a brother.

There is not just one kind of love.
It comes in different forms, shapes, sizes, and kinds that we cannot even imagine to think of.

We're all too blinded by all this hate and regret and selfishness that we can't take a few seconds out of our day to say "Thank you" to that stranger who holds open your door or to your friend who picks up your pen. We can't say it to our mom who cooks our dinner and our dad who drives us to school. We can't smile back at the stranger who smiled or help an old woman carry her groceries out to her car. We can't call up an old friend and ask them to hang out for a few hours just to catch up. We can't see past the shadows, mistakes, flaws and imperfections of others and we judge them on their past. We can't go a day without having to talk about another person. Why not?

Hate is taking over. And we all have choices. We have the other options.

The Way I See It:
Hate is easy.
Love takes courage.

"Everyone says love hurts, but that is not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality love is the only thing in this world that covers up all pain and makes someone feel wonderful again. Love is the only thing in this world that does not hurt."