Love is a universal word that we can all relate too,
in some ways in can be benign and in others it can be a double edge sword, those variables are defined by the beholder, thats why theres that old saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
Love is defined as the following...
source Merriam Webster
1 a(1): strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties.
(2)maternal love for a child
(3)attraction based on sexual desire.
affection and tenderness felt by lovers after all these years they are still very much in love
(4)affection based on admiration, benevolence or common interest.
(5)warm attachment, enthusiasm or devotion*love for the sea
(6) the object of attachment, devotion or admiration.
But no dictionary or words can put in to context how powerful of a meaning love really is!
in lots of ways its an energy more powerful than that of nuclear energy, it can cause a man or women to move mountains with his or her bear hands, or two different countries to go to war.
It can cause personal devastation and in lots of ways it can make you or break you.
In its pure form love is magical, colorful, exiting, exhausting, beautiful and unreal, sometimes you just wish you can freeze time and hold that moment forever but sometimes love can really devastate your life if you let it, it's a special type of "cryptonide" who ever receives it has the power over the other person and vise versa, at times it can be a balanced situation but genarally speaking usually it’s a “one way street” leaving the other person powerless and incompetent, but what we must realize is that True love really does not and should not hurt it is only when you poison love with jealousy, obsession, greed or malice that you create a volatile situation that could lead to tremendous devastation and reap havoc in ones life if we let it.
How can we avoid devastation
This is actually quite simple all you have to do is pay attention to the other persons actions and intentions and ignore the words that come out of there mouth, now you ignore the words as in take them in with a grain of sand and don't hold the words in a emotional department because the persons actions will reveal a plethora of more information than their mouth ever will, for some reason most people don't pay attention to anything till the "Tsunami" is over their head and then its too late act.
Another thing is silence can reveal a lot more than "noise" does, the key is how you pay attention too this is a major aspect of maintaining a homeostatic (balanced) life style is to self monitor and automatically control your own behavior and make sure to pick up on subtle differences thats were you start to get a good feel for the other person.
Honesty
this is the most important one and if you can't be honest, don't expect it in return.
its always best to just tell the person straight up, instead of trying to hide your real intentions.
In my lifetime I have been called an asshole, prick and a plethora of other insults by my exes, the two things I have never been called by anyone is a lier or a snitch. I realize in a save your own neck society these are two rare characteristics I am blessed with and can tell you people is practice these two things and you'll have a smooth sailing life where you will have a clear understanding with people and long loving relationships
Does the saying "what goes around, comes around" ring true?
Sure does this applys to anything in life but specially your loved ones, how you are is the type of people that will reflect around you if you seek good qualities you have to offer good qualities and a good soul.
Why does love hurt
It hurts because we are dishonest with ourselves and sometimes we are in it for the wrong reasons.
you have to be true with yourself on who you really are and what your really looking for?
love will never hurt if your 100 percent honest and if the other person hurts, and you were honest with them than thats there fault and there is nothing you can do about it.
Does true love exist?
I think so! but more and more people are trying to coherse the word love in to other meanings but we all know what pure love is,
we all have a great idea in out hearts but sometimes our normalcy bias wants us to accept love the way it is, but at the end of the day we truly know what Love is.