Love......... for Idiots

This is a Basic Guideline for Love for Idiots written by a Fellow Idiot:

Only you can say what love really is for you, but then maybe I can help you define it by telling you what I believe it is not.

Despite what most people think, love isn't selfless. You don't love for the sake of other people. All emotions are selfish, self-centered. No one can force you to feel anything other than what you really feel. Emotions never lie, people just misinterpret or disregard them.

Love can't be "learned".
You can't "learn to love" someone you don't love. You just delude yourself into liking them.

Love isn't alms.
You don't love someone because you feel sorry for them. That's not love. That's just pity.

Love isn't need.
It's not love when you expect the other person to fill a gap in your life. If that need disappears or is filled by something or someone else, then the supposed "love" disappears too. If you love someone because you want security or happiness or contentment from him or her, you're not going to get those things if they're not within you in the first place.

Love isn't "completion".
You're already complete as you are, you just need to discover and acknowledge it. It's not love if you think you need someone to feel complete. If that feeling doesn't come from you, you're not going to get it anywhere else.

Love isn't just a "feeling". It is both felt and known.
Your emotion and reason must be in sync.

"Love" without reason is just lust or shallow attraction.

"Love" without emotion is simply justification and rationalization.

Love isn't just in the present.
You have to love who that person was and who that person will be.

Love isn't supposed to drive you crazy.
It's not supposed to wreak havoc on your life. It's supposed to inspire you into being the best possible version of yourself.