Food for Thought

I was reading a book today and I ran across a quote, well a couple ideas that really resonated with me.

"Real Love" is not obsessional, it unites reason and emotion, involves an act of the will and requires discipline and recongizes  the need for personal growth.  Our most basic need is not to fall in love but to be genuinely loved by another, to know a love that grows out of reason and choice, not instinct.

"Falling in love" is not "real love" for three reasons:
1- It is not the act of will or conscious choice
2- It is effortless; requiring little discipline or conscious effort on our part
3- The one who is "in love" is not genuinely interest in fostering the personal growth of the other person. Because the other person is typically seen as perfect. Our purpose is  to terminate our own loneliness and ensure this result through marriage.

While "falling in love" is the emotional euphoria that pushes us toward the alter, it is often mistaken for real love. Couples find that after marriage the euphoria lifts and they become presented with real life and "real love" and often don't know how to handle the transition from the high. "True love cannot begin until in-love has run its course".

As a matter of personal opinion, I'd agree with what's stated above. I think it's often more intringuing and romantic than realistic to believe in soul mates and destiny.  Perhaps there are a select few individuals that are best suited for an individual, but as Thomas Monson once said, "It is our decisions that determine our destiny", not the other way around.