Thursday, October 9, 2014

What is the difference between love and infatuation?



Infatuation is the state of being completely lost in the emotion of unreasoning desire. Love is a decision to commit oneself to another and to work through conflicts instead of giving up. Infatuation is associated with selfish uncontrollable desire where as love is associated with physical chemistry over a fairly long time. Love is also intimacy, commitment, security, and the desire to please and help the other person. Infatuation is short lived physical desire, crush, lust, hormonal activity, and addictive chemicals in the brain. This leaves the person not revived with the same person without a deeper feeling. It causes urgency, intensity, sexual desire, anxiety, high risk choices, and reckless abandonment of what was once valued. Love, however, consists of faithfulness, loyalty, and confidence. Love is willing to make sacrifices for one another, working at setting differences and being able to compromise so that either both “win” or at least give the other person’s opinion a chance. From person to person, infatuation is reckless commitment to satisfy one’s all consuming lust where with love, there is commitment to one another, genuine intentions, and thought about the other person’s feelings before acting. Infatuation feels like all-consuming euphoria, similar to recreational drug use, stupidity, and can risk everything for the next hit of adrenalin. Love feels like a deep affection, contentment, and confidence. Partners communicate and negotiate appropriate expectations. Love requires a lot of selflessness and polite assertiveness. You are loving your best friend. The results of love are security, peace, and a solid partner-ship which can provide the ideal atmosphere to raise confident secure children. The results of infatuation include emptiness and consequences of choices made while under the influence of mind numbing temporary lust. Infatuation also comes with the effects of being controlled by brain chemistry, not the heart, and loss of ability to make rational evaluations of what is true, valuable, and worthy. Now, the effects of love? Simply are, contentment and stability. Infatuation can be interpreted as not being able to be sustained without some portion of “love” and physical attraction. The desire to always be close to that person at any cost. Love is a partnership. It can lead to codependency if not tempered with self-awareness and self-guidelines. Over time, love will deepen were infatuation takes off fast and furious like a spark in dry grass burns out quickly and can leave feelings of emptiness. Infatuation is temporary in life and goes off after some period, but love, love is permanent commitment and stays throughout the life. Bottom line, infatuation is delusional, not real. Love is unconditional and the real deal. Infatuation is of the now. Love is a gradual process. it happens over time. 
So there.
You cannot have both. 
My question now is, can infatuation grow into love? 

1 comment:

  1. beautiful new blog sweetie pie- and you are so wise!
    all my heart

    ReplyDelete