What Moment Have You Been Waiting For All Of Your Life?

Thanks! Only recently have I really thought about the way spiritual harmony relates to other factor in attraction, which brought me to the different types of love.

I believe there are basically just three stages of interpersonal love: compassionate, affectionate, and romantic, where "affectionate" and "romantic" love build on earlier stages.

Compassionate love is the warmth of caring. Affectionate love is the warmth of spiritual attraction growing to spiritual harmony, like kindred spirits becoming soul mates. Compassionate and affectionate love are often together considered "Platonic" or brotherly love, because they do not involve any sexual desire. Romantic love adds the warmth of complete emotional and physical intimacy (the cuddle test).

Compassion, or caring for the welfare of others, is the basis of all love. Highly compassionate souls may radiate love in virtual waves like a "lovelight." Compassion may be focused in a narrow beam like a searchlight, or shine broadly like a floodlight. Compassionate love signifies respect and engenders trust, which is the basis of all positive human relationships.

Unconditional compassion for others, regardless of relationship, is relatively rare compared to compassion for friends and family. Such unconditional compassion is Agape love, which may well represent the pinnacle of emotional maturity.

Compassionate love, or caring about someone's well-being, often extends beyond associates to strangers (i.e. agape love). Those who wept for unknown 9/11 victims reflected agape love.

While compassionate love is often unconditional, affectionate love is TOTALLY dependent upon the personality, or spirit, of the love object. Romantic love (so-called "true love") depends not only upon the personality of the love object, but usually depends on your life situations.

(IMHO)