“You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.”

February 14 is Valentine's Day. Expecting flowers, cards, gifts, chocolates, candle-lit dinners, etc. from your loved ones, everyone is celebrating this day in his or her own way. 

How many of us truly comprehend the meaning of love? Here are my ideas. Contrary to popular belief, execrate is not the antithesis of love. Love is a giving emotion; we give through abandonment during trying times, illness, and injustice. Execrate is our prefered packaging material. Usual expressions of hatred include hating a particular individual, dish, or location. In reality, what we are saying is that we prefer certain foods over others, certain places over others, and specific people over others.

Actually, the opposite of love is greed. Our avarice and greed take from others and provide for ourselves. Avarice drains the spirit and life of others for its own glory. When we are greedy, we want more from others, whereas those who are generous look for ways to give more to others. Love lacks integrity. Sincerity implies reciprocity. Love is not a requirement. When we love someone, we give without any expectation of receiving anything in return. We frequently mistake acts of kindness for love. 

Kindness is mutual. I extend a favour to you and anticipate that you will return the favour. Loving and receiving love in return is gratifying, uplifting, and revitalizing, but it is not necessary. Love is never unfaithful. If love never has any expectations, then betrayal is impossible. The possibility of disloyalty or betrayal exists whenever we expect something in return. 

Love is all about submission and selflessness. The more we sacrifice, the greater our love can be demonstrated. Giving and sacrificing for those we dislike is more difficult than giving and sacrificing for those we love. We repeatedly succumb to the urge to withhold our time, effort, and resources from people we dislike because our efforts will be in vain and obscured. 

The introduction of an assumption invites regret and disloyalty. When we give to those we dislike without expecting anything in return, we can never be regretted or betrayed, because love has no expectations. Giving without expectation improves our lives and has the potential to alter the lives of others. In Bhagwat Geeta, Lord Krishna states, "Love should liberate the one who loves us." Love is not a contractual relationship, so one should not engage in a give-and-take relationship, which is doomed to fail. True love is devoid of expectation, anger, and any other emotion; it consists solely of the act of giving, without any expectation or emotion.