Definition of Love

I know I haven't posted anything "non-poetic" on here in a while but a good friend of mine raised an important topic that sparked my interest. She determined that people nowadays are using the word "love" too loosely. And I completely agree. Hell, I admit I'm one of those people. I too have used "loving someone" and "being in love with someone" interchangeably. Too many people are getting the concept of love and infatuation confused. Dictionary.com defines infatuation as "foolish or all-absorbing passion." I couldn't agree with this definition more. People embark in relationships fueled solely on foolish passion alone, and label having "passion" for one another as being in love. But what happens once that passion dies out? People realize that it wasn't love after all. I feel like people don't understand the meaning of the word anymore. They just throw it out there because it SOUNDS good.Everyone wants to be in love, but not everyone understands what being in love entails. Too many people are just in love with the idea of being in love. Being in a relationship and being in love are two things that seemingly go hand in hand. Most don't realize that they are two separate entities. Being in a relationship is meant to help people find love together, but that love is something that must be built. It's extremely rare for people to enter a new relationship already in love with one another. It seems like people don't realize the difference between "loving someone" and being "in love with someone."I can't sit here and pretend that there is some universal definition or code for being in love. It's a feeling that has different characteristics for different people. But I can sit here and say that people these days don't know what love is NOT. The "love" that people are basing their relationships off of nowadays has no strength behind it. It gets relationships nowhere. It has no sense of devotion behind it. "Devotion is an intense love and steadfast, enduring loyalty to a person." And that's just it. Love these days have no intensity, NO loyalty. Next time I say I'm in love with someone, it will mean that I am intensely dedicated and devoted to making the best out of our relationship. And if that's not what you mean when you say it in return....then you might as well just not say it to me at all.