Love and Lust: Finding the Difference

There are certain things in the world that are important to have. Doctors, for example. They tend to the sick. Politicians, because they run our society and create our laws. Lawyers and judges are the ones who enforce those laws. All of these and more are essential to living. But what is worth living for? I find that love is something that is worth more than any amount of money. Unfortunately, the meaning of love has been lost through years of confusion between love and lust. Not many people know the difference between love and lust. That's okay! I was the same way. Maybe I still am.

When you enter into a relationship, one of the things that you must understand is lust is perfectly normal. You can't have love without some kind of lust. However, it's when lust becomes the dominant feeling that trouble starts. Lust is a part of love but love is not a part of lust. You have to be extremely careful not to confuse the two. Before you make a physical commitment, you have to be prepared to make a mental and emotional commitment.

Being able to tell whether or not you are in lust is a fairly simple matter. If you are attracted to them in any way, then you have already experienced lust. When you realize this, remember that lust is a perfectly normal and human thing to feel. Unfortunately, this makes knowing whether or not you are in love that much more difficult, for any relationship, whether it involves love or not, has lust in it. Watch lust carefully, for it can lead to infatuation. For those of you who don't know, infatuation is a false love. You think you love someone, but you really don't. I have experienced this all too often, myself.

Guys, I want you to picture this. A girl enters your life. She is not the usual kind of girl you go for. Her figure is not your favorite and her breasts are too small for your taste. But eventually, you start to notice her more and more often. You find yourself wondering how she's feeling, if there's any problems you can help her resolve. Pretty soon you start to think of excuses to talk to her every day and you even move your seat at lunch so you can sit near her. Even through all of this, you still won't admit you like her. Until the first time you see her cry. You won't see it coming, it will just happen. You will see tears streaking down her cheeks, and she will reject all attempts to comfort her. Your heart will break in two. Grief will overwhelm you as you watch her silently suffer, unable to do anything to help. Finally you admit that you feel something for her, but you don't know what it is. You've never felt it before and you don't know how to handle. Finally you watch her leave for someone else, and although your heart is broken, you are happy that she found someone she can be happy with.

Why did I tell you that agonizingly painful love story? To make a few points. If you have ever lost someone and you are wondering whether or not you ever really loved them, just ask yourself if you are happy that they are happy. If the answer is yes, then I am sorry for your hurt. If you read that story closely, you can find an important tell tale sign of falling in love. Empathy. Empathy exists in all relationships where someone truly loves another. When she is feeling sad, then you are feeling sad. I don't know if that's how it works for girls, but for guys, that factor must exist if you truly love them. Another thing you can find in the story is the gradual lack of caring of what she looks like physically. If you didn't like her figure before, or you thought her breasts were not good enough, and you still developed feelings for her, then there may be something more at work there than just lust.

There are many different ways to tell whether you are in lust or love. Many different signs and hints. It is the individual's responsibility to find out what those signs and hints are. Remember, many things are essential to life, but love is what makes life worth living.