So often we spend most of our time taking care of our physical needs. We make sure our bodies are fed, cleaned, clothed, exercised and rested. We also make sure intellectual stimulation and entertainment is a priority. Yet we also overlook the most important need — love.
Of course, as a society, love is not overlooked. Popular media constantly places great emphasis on what we need to do and how we should look to attract “love”. But being loved is not as powerful an emotional need as that desire to love someone else.
The need to love and care for others is built into us biologically. This need is what allows parents to forgo sleep, food, and sanity while raising their children. This need is what allows people to put themselves at risk to save others from natural disasters and human threats. This need is what makes human society work on both a small and a large scale.
Loving others allows us to put the needs and desires of others before our own. We will work harder and longer, sometimes at jobs we loathe, to provide for those we love. We will tolerate otherwise intolerable conditions to provide care for our loved ones whether they are young...