The Role of Love in Fulfilling Individual Needs - Essay Example

Write about the power of love in your own life and why you feel that people need love. What kind of love do you most need Describe your best relationship. The growth and development of child lays its foundation in childhood itself. It shapes the personality and individual for future. Although, growth and development of an individual's personality is a constant process. The foundation of each stage of development is laid by the preceding stages also each stage becomes a stepping stone for the upcoming stages. The personality of a child is the mirror of parenting. Since at each stage psychological and physiological aspects demands an input from the parents and society along with the socioeconomic environment, it becomes crucial that conflict occurring at each step must be resolved based on the ego of that stage. Parenting and family atmosphere plays the crucial role in development of the child. The love and affection provided by the parents and a congenial atmosphere of the family provides a positive and progressive attitude in the developing personality of the child. This inculcates the feeling of belongingness, builds trust on one another and strengthens the social bonding. The freedom given at home to the child builds the persona of the child as home is the place which is most eternal and most cozy in the entire world, where we can be with ourselves and be at our own wish. My parents love has nurtured me and groomed me here to spread the happiness everywhere. It is their love and affection and above all dedication and sacrifice that they have made for me has developed my understanding far ahead than my peer group. My parents love has made my home more than a four corner space where I linger while devouring time for self amusement, it is more than a sturdy roof that shelters me from the heat of the sun and protects me from the wrath of a the storm, a home for me simply is a sanctuary, a safe haven, a comfort zone so to speak. It is here that love has found a new meaning in my life. It is understandable that emotions are the inner feelings which all of us possess and express when we react towards the situation. No one knows all the mysterious ways how our brain affects our physiological mechanisms when it is related with emotions and therefore it is very hard to understand emotions. It is true that changes in the physiology occur by releasing diverse hormones in response to the circumstances. They release stressors, making our heart pound, our stomach knot, our palms sweat. These are the typical "fight or flight" response hormones. Love is very difficult to define as it means different things to so many people but underlying the expression of all forms of love is a feeling that flows between two or more people that fulfills our needs and expectations. Love is also often used to describe some activity we are very passionate about. Everyone has a natural desire to be loved. As children, we all want our parent's love and approval. The unfortunate part of our need for love is that it does not encourage our being self empowered. It puts us in a position of always putting the needs and wants of others in front of our own in order to receive love. It encourages us to stay in the same patterns of behavior we experienced as children, if we only received love by being submissive and doing what we were told, we will continue this behavior in our adult relationships unless we make a conscious effort to change. If we experienced any form of abuse, we will unconsciously seek this form of love in our adult relationships because this is the only model of love we recognize. If we grew up in homes where the display, expression or discussion of feelings was not encouraged or permitted, we will experience difficulties expressing ourselves in adulthood. We may feel uncomfortable or be out of touch with our feelings. When parents teach us to do as they say in order to get love, it discourages us from listening to our own inner guidance, being spontaneous or acting on our own initiative. It discourages the use of our intelligence and natural creativity. Therefore parents need to allow children to make their own decisions and experience. People feel loved when another person(s) make them feel special and fulfills their inner needs and expectations. These needs and expectations, when examined closely, are often tied to what we were exposed to in childhood. Almost 99% of people marry their parents. If one likes her mother, she will look for a partner like her father. If one likes her dad, she will seek a partner who has the personality of her mother. It is the personality patterns we tend to replicate. Not everyone has the same capacity for love. This is due to our up-bringing, personalities and willingness to examine and express our feelings. When someone says "I love you", their love may not take the form of love one desires. Too often people try to interpret these words with the meaning they would like to hear. We need to understand that the relationships we attract into our lives have a lot to do with our family patterning but also with the soul lessons we choose for this lifetime. It is the learning opportunities. The people we attract into our lives have the same lessons to learn that we do. That is why they are there. There are no accidents. We agreed prior to incarnation to interact with these people during our lifetime. If we notice that we have the same dynamics occurring with different people time and time again, this should be proof positive that we are repeating old patterns of behavior instead of learning from our relationships and moving on. It is not always comparable. It is observed that some people only feel loved when they have the approval of their parents, family members and the society in which they live. When we act outside of accepted behavior patterns, we risk losing the love of those we hold near and dear. Some people are afraid to love for fear of loss or rejection. It is also true that the feelings do change with time. It is always best to be honest with yourself. This I have learnt from my family as I could find my best and closest friends in the family itself. The way we take care of each other and are always ready to help even if we have to change our personal plans. At times my parents have given up their dreams to realize the dreams of their kids. Today my parents love has made me what I am, what my thinking is and what is the real meaning of life and social norms. My trust on people and how to deal with everyone what I learnt right from my childhood is really a boon to me which is helping me in every step of my life. My parents love has shaped my personality and persona and hence they have given an insight and a progressive outlook to judge the circumstances and then to react and frame opinion about everything. My parents love has given my life a new dimension and I really owe a lot to them. It is the biggest relationship that I have found today as whatever I am today is because of their constant love, encouragement and guidance. Apart from this, they have taught me to love myself. The best relationship I feel is when we love ourselves we are in the best position to be able to love others. This is due to the fact that we now have a positive experience of what love looks like. When we can accept ourselves completely, it is much easier to accept others with their faults and differences. When we love and accept ourselves, we do not sacrifice what we want in order to loved. We are able to express our needs, create and maintain boundaries and manifest what we want. We are not so vulnerable, so needy or dependent on others. This makes us strong and confident. Read More