Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine NK LCM February 2018 Anniversary Issue | Page 30

Love is a Choice
Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? I used to think so, too.
Love is that gooey feeling that infiltrates our hearts
and makes us nervous, unsure, and elated at the same
time. Let’s talk about parental love, for instance. The
first time a mother holds her newborn baby, she
feels all of those things (most of the time). The love
is instant and overwhelming, foreshadowing the
grueling hours of labor that took place moments
before. That’s how I felt after giving birth to both of
my daughters.
The early stages of falling in love with a significant
other are equally intense. It starts with a physical
attraction that makes the heart skip several beats.
It’s the rush of adrenaline that slams into the heart
and burst into fireworks whenever that special
someone is near. Or that gut-wrenching pull
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whenever that person leaves. It makes us feel good
on another level. Phone calls that drift into the early
morning hours exploring each other’s minds, aligning
the stars to ensure the next time you’ll see each other
again, reciting lyrics to a song that seem to be written
specifically about you, and the inevitable swoon at the
slightest touch Oh, what a feeling.
But love, at its mature stage, is so much more. Going
through the early stages of love leads to the meaningful
love that comes with longevity. And it is not always
easy. For those who haven’t been there, this may sound
foreign, and that’s okay. I didn’t truly understand until
it became my life.
Love is a choice. It’s a verb. Once again, parental love—
those little people aren’t so little anymore, and with