One of the problems in the world today is people do not understand the many facets of the word “love.” Mention love in conversation and many people think of “lust,” as if that is the only possible meaning for a word which should be much more prominent in human relations than it is. Putting aside romantic love (and its twin lust) temporarily, there are several other forms of love which many people do, and should, practice:

• love of family, including parents, siblings, and offspring; this is probably the type of love which most people practice and, in my opinion, it truly makes life wonderful;

• love of God; many people proclaim this, but how many actually practice it? I have a friend who truly directs her life based on her love of God, and it is not surprising she is one of the happiest and most caring people I know;

• love of friends; I do not mean love of the people you “hang around with” or “associate with”; I refer to being fortunate enough to have one or two truly special friends who understand you better than almost anybody else, who truly care about you, and who do whatever is best for your sake rather than for themselves; these are the friends you talk with most frequently, the ones you share your happy times with, and turn to when unhappy times occur; the majority of people never have a friend like this, while some are fortunate enough to have such a “soul mate”; the truly lucky might have two such friends.

Of course, while anybody can intentionally develop friends, it is much more difficult to find somebody to love, whether a spouse (romantic love) or a “soul mate,” or a person who actually becomes both. Those without either though are missing the most precious parts of life.