love

A strong emotional bond towards something, usually a person, including strong feelings of care and affection, and a desire to keep a long-term positive relationship going with the loved one. Love is often confused with sex, particularly due to the way society has sexualised shows of affection over recent decades. However, people may love parents and siblings, and may love close friends and cousins in much the same way- sexual relationships are different mainly due to the additional sexual element, not the love itself. Love also shouldn't be confused with lust- attachment based on sexual desire alone, with no emotional attachment, is rarely sustainable and usually ends in a painful falling out with the person concerned. Love can sometimes be abused for destructive purposes- people are expected to be prepared to make sacrifices for loved ones, so for example possessive partners may demand that one cuts off one's friends on request to "show" one's love for the partner. The above caveats apart, love is a wonderful thing that is fundamental to keeping people happy and maintaining bonds within society.