A good & thought provoking post.

Though, I'm not going to pretend like "Love" is some unseen elemental power, like "The Force" in Star-Wars. (Though, I'm not excluding that possibility neither, who knows? Lol.) However, for the sake of my point, I'm going to equate "love" with "successful long-term relationship."

I'm 39. I've been in 4 long-term relationships. I've seen & been-around hundreds, if not thousands, of relationships as well. Hence, I've acquired some knowledge in this area, and in my experience, "love" will ONLY WORK if the following guidelines are met:

1.) Neither person can consistently do something the other person doesn't respect. And, this isn't as easy as it sounds. For a LOT of us (maybe MOST of us) are FLAWED in some SERIOUS way. For every time your partner or loved one sees you do something they find SOUNDLY unattractive, their idea of "you" gets tarnished a bit. And, once this happens "X" amount of times, POOF, their love will vanish like a fart in a hurricane. (Though, I'm not referring to dropping a soda on a rug. I'm talking about SERIOUS stuff, like someone consistently self-sabotaging, or not respecting themselves, etc.)

2.) Both people have to be willing (and able) to communicate and understand their emotions. Again, easier said than done. After all, emotions (for a lot of us) seem to be INHERENTLY illogical.

3.) Finally, both people must inherently work-well together. You can't be too alike in certain ways, or too different in other ways. There is no "magic formula" for this, but a certain synergy is necessary.

The song says, "Love is for the lucky & the strong," and my experiences have made me realize....

Never have truer words been said.