When someone says “I love you,” we often fail to examine what exactly that means. We don’t ask the right questions to fully understand the scope of their love. Here are three questions you should seek answers to.
How does their love for you translate?
Since we all have different experiences, the way a person loves will translate differently from how your love translates. Someone’s love for you can translate into possessiveness. It can translate into fear or anxiety. It can translate into laziness, rejection, or even abandonment. Examine how their love translates because we all speak different languages when it comes to love.
Where do they love you from?
You can only love from the condition of your heart, so if someone is broken, they can only love you from a partial place. If someone is insecure, they can only love you from an uncertain place.
You can’t expect someone to love you from a place of wholeness when they are only pieces of themselves.
What is their definition of love?
While the other two questions are ones you observe for the answer, this is a question you should also ask. Our definitions of words result from our experiences, environment, and education. That means we all have different meanings of what love is and what love looks like. Ask your partner for their definition and define love for yourself also.
Photo by: Iury Bessa – Pexels
Essential Intimacy 