Lust for life

Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
By John Cheeran
Do we mistake lust for love?
Is there something called love?
These are difficult questions, indeed.
Years ago a friend of mine had said that love between a man and woman fades soon but lust remains. Well, it was difficult to agree then. May be he is right after all.
People wake up and realize that there is neither love nor lust left in their relationships. So what was it that they had in the beginning? Was it love? Was it lust? Or was it a reckless gesture of youth to plunge into each other? Or were they all too young and immature to figure out what love was all about? Did they mistake lust for love?
Yes, it is important to figure this out, since the argument that there is no love but only passing fancies could be used against a relationship that could, possibly, run on love.
You look around, speak to friends and all they point out are marriages that are crumbling, especially ones that had love as their fountainhead. The man who used to make 40 phone calls every day when he was wooing the girl now struggles to hang on to the phone for four seconds. Where has the love gone?
May be you love only once. May be you can lust after many men and women. May be lust stays with you till the end but seeks many paths.
Your love is only as good as you, and at times, this can be a terrible thought. Yes, love can transform individuals, but often individuals try to shape love according to their petty universe. There, then, begins the tragedy.
Senorita, just because there are cracks in Taj Mahal it does not mean that all love is doomed to come apart. The collapse of Taj Mahal will not be the end of love. Taj Mahal is not love itself, but a symbol of love. Just because many love stories are ending up in sordid divorces it should not make you cringe back from falling in love.
May be what we need is lust for life.