What is Love?

Have you ever had an overpowering desire to call something your own, or to be a part of something that is greater than oneself? To have love and be able to share it openly with that person with whom it is shared; never to tarnish it, but to treat it as it should be, because it is eternal and untouchable by those who aren't enveloped in its personal ties. There may be others who will "judge" another individuals relationship and claim to understand completely from their own understanding of love and companionship, but they may never know of the delicate and beautifully unique intricacies which exist in true loving relationships.
Love is a beautiful thing! It is so precious that great "risk" is taken in sharing ones heart with another, so the deceiver would have us believe. But there is an amount of truth in that... you can't tell a stranger on the street that you love them for what good you see in them, first a relationship must be established and a bond nurtured before such an expression can be appreciated. The trick is to love no matter what, but to know when it is time to express it. If love is one sided (given with no return) then great pain is almost always the end result. The Savior is a great example of the true power of love and how one sided love may be painful at times (although His ability to be selfless enables him to look past the pain of rejection, jealousy and hate), but even then His love has such power as to be able to turn hearts to love Him; which love can and is displayed in scripture as respect (also written as fear), reverence, a desire to be near Him, etc... These are different levels of love which may be manifested one way or another, but there is no greater thing than to love whole-heartedly. To love whole-heartedly is to love as the Savior did, even unto great sacrifice. Only caution must be taken at times, so I feel, by those of us who have not reached a level of perfection yet, such as our Lords. I feel that I have a large capacity to love, but in that I have a weakness of pride which presents itself in forms of fear and self-centeredness or oversensitivity. I have had experiences in which I have been heartbroken, all of us do at some point in time. The differences in how we grow and develop from our experiences depends on how we react, initially and throughout the rest of our lives. I ought not to allow for my weaknesses to hide what capacities my Father in heaven has blessed me with.
I have a friend who I admire for who he is, a kind and caring person. He once shared with me, not in great detail, that he has had experiences which have "torn some of his heart strings." "Look you can see the void where my heart has been broken and torn form its cavity in my chest", he says as he shows me how his chest indents into his torso, obviously a form of deformity having nothing to do with his actual heart. Such passion is not a bad thing, so long as it doesn't overshadow ones love and expression thereof. I mention my friend in an effort to illustrate a point and must point out that his tale of a damaged heart doesn't prove a lack in his abilities to love and no man has jurisdiction to judge him and his heart for how can a man know anothers true feelings as an imperfect being himself.
The love I am hoping to focus on, and which was my intent in creating this post, is love between man and woman or husband and wife. The ability to love another in a deep and personal manner. I do not claim to have a complete knowledge on the subject, but can only share my understanding form what little experience I have under my belt. As pertaining to the feelings of my heart; I have so much I wish to share, but I must admit I shelter it behind lock and key. Not just any lock... one that is old with a unique key that no other man can duplicate and which has been created thick with solid metals nearly indestructible. I hold my heart dear and precious to myself. I greedily do not share many deep feelings which I possess, for fear of scrutinization. Maybe I should not be so timid at times, as imperfect as I am, but either way I should be humble and know that no matter what others may claim I am who I am and how I feel is my own. I just hope to someday be able to share every bit of who I am (my soul) with another; with whom I may lay claim to throughout all time and eternity and give of myself whole-heartedly.
I hope to be able to make someone happy and be able to find happiness at their side. Someone to work with towards perfection... such a person will need to know intricate parts of my being to be able to truly help cast out the imperfections, many of which I am in essence blinded to. Finding someone who is willing to share such an intense relationship is not easy. I have been labeled as being too picky, but I feel somethings are worth waiting and looking hard for. More than that I feel that Heavenly Father knows our potential and wants us to have the desires of our heart, thus he assists us in the decisions of our lives. I love my Father in heaven for he loves me (vain as that may sound, but I do know he loves us all). Coming to this realization has blessed my life beyond my ability to capture such feelings in writing.