¿Qué significa el amor? Todo lo que debe saber sobre esta mágica emoción
What does love mean? Many people say that the world revolves around money – and the rest of them say it’s love that makes the world spin.
Teniendo esto en cuenta, podemos afirmar sin temor a equivocarnos que el amor es algo muy importante para la humanidad. Si no lo más importante.
El amor es algo universal, conocido por todos, pero inexplicable y misterioso. Una contradicción generalmente reconocida.
Yes, there are many definitions of love, but it’s impossible to say one definition of love is completely and utterly true and right for everyone.
It’s safe to say that love is a lot of things for a lot of people. It can’t be removed from individual experience.
Los seres humanos conocemos muchos tipos de amor: el amor romántico, el amor a los mejores amigos, el amor familiar, el amor a las mascotas y otros millones de tipos de amor.
Los antiguos griegos, por ejemplo, tenían siete palabras diferentes para referirse al amor.
El diccionario inglés Oxford define el amor como una serie de estados emocionales y mentales fuertes y positivos, desde la virtud o la buena costumbre más sublime y el afecto interpersonal más profundo, hasta el placer más simple.
Y aunque eso suena bastante claro a primera vista, sé por experiencia que se traduce en la vida cotidiana en forma de refranes diversos y un tanto poéticos sobre el amor que oímos todo el tiempo.
Por eso, he querido reunir aquí algunos de los refranes cotidianos más frecuentes e intentar llegar al núcleo de su verdadero significado.
Here’s what love is when it’s not just saying simple Te quiero, according to… all humankind.
1. El amor es incondicional
Oímos mucho esta frase, pero ¿sabemos lo que significa?
Unconditional love means appreciating someone despite their imperfections – body or personality wise.
Significa aceptar a su ser querido tal como es, sin buscar beneficiarse de él.
Unconditional love doesn’t look for something in return. It supports and respects regardless of one’s success, appearance, or social status.
Lo más importante es la relación en sí. Sólo por existir tal como es.
It’s a choice to stay with someone no matter the circumstances, it means putting someone else’s needs before your own, prioritizing their happiness.
Algunos dicen que el amor incondicional es simplemente lo que queremos decir con amor...un amor verdadero.
El amor incondicional significa que tu pareja te anima a ser la mejor versión de ti mismo.
They don’t shame you for your actions or needs. They don’t judge you for your choices.
En cambio, responden con empatía y se preocupan por su bienestar.
También significa que puedes hablar libremente, sin ponerte incómodo.
And even when you get into an argument, you try to understand each other’s points of view and have no hard time forgiving each other.
Quieres encontrar una solución que os haga felices a los dos.
When you’re loved unconditionally, you’re not afraid to be yourself completely – because there’s nothing to prove, you know you’re not being judged.
There’s no expectation you need to fulfill. You can let your guard down. Even on your bad days!
There’s no mind games or compromises that make you feel bitter. Every decision is respective to your boundaries. You bring out the best in each other.
2. El amor es ciego
El amor ciego suele ser un tema recurrente en diversos tipos de arte.
The lovers are portrayed as blind to their partners’ negative traits and with a tendency to idealize them.
¿Por qué amamos tan a menudo la imagen idealizada de una persona en lugar de la real? ¿Qué nos hace seguir creyendo en ella?
It’s strange to think that in the early stage of romantic relationships people tend to have and maintain what is called ilusiones positivas con respecto a su pareja.
It’s almost like an attempt to live out their dream, their fantasy seeing only what they perceive as desirable and ignoring the rest.
Other than that, it’s not unusual for people to tend to keep justifying something they invested so much time and put so much attention into, and disregard everything they don’t really like yet won’t admit initially.
Tras el encaprichamiento original, llega el choque con la realidad.
Suddenly, a person feels like they misinterpreted their partner qualities, while in reality it’s more likely it was partly their fault for not wanting to see anything but the good qualities.
A menudo, el amor romántico se confunde con la simple lujuria, sobre todo en una nueva relación.
And while sexual desire is an important aspect if you’re in for a long-term relationship, still, sometimes it’s just an easily extinguished fire with no real meaning.
3. El amor es todo lo que necesitas
While this saying sounds quite sentimental, for many people it’s the truth they live by.
Aparte de sonar sensiblero, si uno se pone a pensar en ello más a fondo y se pregunta realmente por qué el amor es todo lo que necesitamos, empiezan a aparecer algunas respuestas interesantes.
It’s pretty clear that we need love to feel valuable and accepted, which then gives our lives meaning. Love isn’t just sweet words and hugging.
It’s something we need in order to go about our everyday life not feeling devastated and miserable.
We feel devastated and miserable when our needs aren’t met. It affects our quality of life.
The way we do things – the way we eat, sleep, make connections.
It all boils down to love. That’s why it is essential to us.
Love isn’t just a feeling, it’s also an action. It motivates you to do things in life. It gives you purpose.
It makes you commit. There’s nothing people can stick to if there isn’t some aspect of love involved.
4. El amor es eterno
Hablando de refranes sentimentales, éste también es uno de ellos. Sin embargo, este tiene un significado algo más filosófico.
El amor eterno es el amor que no tiene fin, obviamente.
What that means is, there’s no obstacle that can stop the people who love each other from loving each other.
You might ask yourself if eternal love is really possible, but let me tell you – we all witnessed that long-lasting, Cuaderno de notas...relación amorosa al menos una vez.
You know you saw that cute older couple holding hands and thought to yourself, ”Real love exists and it doesn’t get old. I want that kind of love.”
Throughout human history, there were so many proofs of eternal love, so many legends, fairy-tales and real historical stories about undying love, so it’s most likely true.
Maybe it’s not as frequent because it requires a lot of work and sacrifices, but it’s wrong to say it doesn’t exist when it clearly does.
5. El amor no conoce límites
Cada persona tiene su propio lenguaje amoroso.
For one it’s coming home from work and having dinner prepared for them, for others it’s constant words of appreciation and encouragement or receiving a love song.
However, when you truly love someone or something, all of your personal preferences are put aside; there’s no thing that is off-limits.
El tiempo ha demostrado tantas cosas desinteresadas, fascinantes y casi imposibles que la gente ha hecho en nombre del amor.
From risking their lives in extraordinary situations to astonishing sacrifices they’ve made in everyday life, such as dedicating their life to greater a purpose of making the life of others more humane, healthier and happier.
Everyday, people’s lives are changed and saved solely because of love.
No interest could make a person risk their own life for somebody else’s. It can only be love.
And that’s where the mystery of love lies.
6. El amor duele
A slightly darker view on love. After I’ve said everything I’ve said about love and it’s importance in the life of a person, it’s needless to say that not having or missing it hurts like hell.
When it’s good, it’s great; but when it’s bad it’s the worst thing you can imagine.
Pain can cause total eclipse of one’s seemingly healthy mind. There’s so many things that could go wrong.
The person you’re in love with doesn’t love you back. The person who supposedly loves you – abuses you.
The person you loved has passed away. You’re unable to help your loved one while they are suffering from life threatening illness.
Your best friend for life has betrayed you. Your love at first sight turned out to be a high-functioning narcissist. You’ve been cheated on or lied to.
There are so many ways to break a heart. Sometimes it takes just one person – just one relationship to change your views on love forever. For better or worse.
A heart is so fragile that sometimes you don’t even need someone else to break it.
Puedes hacerlo tú mismo poniéndote en situaciones que te causan malestar y dolor, no cuidándote, poniéndote en último lugar y siendo tu peor enemigo.
After the trauma it’s hard to believe in love again. Your perception of love becomes distorted.
Ya no relacionas el amor con sentimientos de seguridad o felicidad, sino con sentimientos de miedo y pérdida, y en algún momento te preguntas inevitablemente: ¿Qué es el amor?
7. El amor es el sentido de la vida
As I said before, while we can write off sayings like this as being sentimental, it’s still true that when people are confronting the difficult experiences in life such as dying or surviving some type of trauma they suddenly start asking themselves about the meaning of life.
And according to the experiences of many psychologists around the world, there’s one answer that keeps popping up in the life of many when it comes to searching for the meaning of life, and you might have already guessed what it is – it’s the love.
And so often, everything else we thought was important in life, our jobs, money, recognition, looks… it all steps aside.
For some people that’s the first moment in their life when they actually start living.
El amor es el sentido de la vida porque sólo el amor tiene el poder de conectarnos con nuestro verdadero propósito.
8. Nada es posible sin amor
Living in a materialistically inclined world we’re often faced with problems of materialistic nature.
It seems impossible to live life without money, without a job – without some guarantee we’re going to survive. And it’s true that we do need those things to survive.
But behind every action we take, there’s constant need for fulfillment, different from just a physical need.
Muchos famosos y ricos admiten que en la cima de su éxito a menudo se sienten completamente infelices e insatisfechos.
Para sentirnos felices necesitamos satisfacer una necesidad. Algo que anhelamos. Y esa necesidad es el amor.
It doesn’t have to be obvious. It can be masked as need for attention, need for approval, need for safety… all kinds of things.
But ultimately, it’s always love.
Para concluir este texto, que espero sea útil y perspicaz, tengo que decir algunas cosas más.
In today’s world where life is happening on social media, traditional dating is replaced with dating apps, everything that was considered the norm is being put on online, and people in general are becoming more closed off, it’s important to always recognize the true face of love in all its forms.
The meaning of love can’t be found in a book or heard in a class. It can’t be learned.
It can’t be magically understood in just one moment – it’s something we learn about the whole time, it’s something that has to be lived out every day of our lives.
Estar enamorado es la necesidad del alma, igual que la comida es la necesidad de nuestro cuerpo.
It’s important to understand that love doesn’t really need to be defined but rather felt and given.
Sentirse querido y dar amor siempre viene de algún tipo de consideración acción. That’s how love expresses itself – by what we do.
¿Qué significa el amor? ¿Qué importancia tiene?
To be moved by a song or a sentence is a wonderful thing, and there’s nothing better than seeing your action has made a world a better place – even for just one day – and you don’t need an explanation for that.
Después de todo lo que he dicho, sólo quiero compartir algunas citas sobre el amor, con la esperanza de que te inspiren a encontrar el amor en todo lo que haces:
”I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious – your heart, your soul. Beauty one could get to know and fall in love with in one hour and cease to love it as speedily; but the soul one must learn to know. Believe me, nothing on earth is given without labour, even love, the most beautiful and natural of feelings.” – Leo Tolstoy
‘’Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.’’ – Lao Tzu
‘’In the flush of love’s light, we dare be brave. And suddenly we see that love costs all we are, and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.’’ – Maya Angelou
‘’The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.’’ – Victor Hugo
‘’I’m not saying that love always takes you to heaven. Your life can become a nightmare. But that said, it is worth taking the risk.’’ – Paulo Coelho
‘’When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.’’
Jimi Hendrix
‘’Just in case you have forgotten today: You matter. You are loved. You are worthy. You are magical.’’
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