The Essence of Love

People often ask, "What is love, and how do you know if you are 'in love'?" I also have asked myself those questions, and I usually don't have a solid answer. Recently, however, I was reading for my religion class, and I found a wonderfully simple quote by Pres. Hinckley.  He said,

"the essence of love...is an anxious concern for the well-being and happiness of one's companion." - Eternal Marriage Student Manual, p 25-26

It is interesting that he calls it the "essence of love." Essence is defined as "the basic, real, and invariable nature of a thing or its significant individual feature or features." It also is "the most significant element, quality, or aspect of a thing or person." It seems then that the most significant and unchanging aspect of love is the anxious concern that a person has for the well-being and happiness of his/her companion. It is through the many things we do to build around this concept that we develop our love for our companion. So while the things we do may vary, the true nature of love is invariable.

Of course that doesn't necessarily answer the question "How do you know if you are 'in love'?", but at least it provides a good start.