Make love, not war.
If there is love, there is peace.
When you think about love, you think about peace, happiness and tranquility. But, as we all know, love is not as simple as we think. Turn on the news and there isn’t much love out there.
Sometime ago, I saw a movie called “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” It is a 2011 romantic comedy-drama film with Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore and others. It is a pretty complicated story involving many characters. In the end, you wonder what was it all about. It must have been about crazy, stupid, love. Yes, it was about crazy, stupid, love.
Next movie which comes to my mind is “Love Story.” It is a 1970 romantic drama starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw. I remember the movie as real tearjerker. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute. How can a love story be a tearjerker, a tragedy and most romantic? The word “oxymoron” comes to my mind. Yes, the movie was about love and sacrifice.
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry”, says Ryan O’Neal’s character at the end of the movie. What does that really mean? Well, true love is unconditional. True love is transparent. True love means we accept and understand and allow our loved one to make mistakes, falter and stumble. True love means we offer them genuine compassion when they are trying their best. Although, we may think their best has to be even “better.”
Patience, is a great virtue, when you love someone. To me, that really sums it up. Love means never having to say you’re sorry.
Valentine’s Day is a good day to reassure our loved ones that what counts most in the world is love and without that there is no happiness. Diamonds, roses and chocolates may provide some competition but love trumps them all.
That brings me to “chocolate theory of love.” You have to be a chemist to understand that. I will try to simplify it. I confess, I am not a chemist but I do love my dark chocolates.
In the early 1980s, researcher Michael Liebowitz, author of the popular 1983 book The Chemistry of Love, remarked to reporters that “chocolate is loaded with PEA.” This became the focus for an article in The New York Times, many magazines and wire services. It came to be known as “chocolate theory of love.”
PEA stands for phenylethylamine or phenethylamine. It is also the name of a class of chemicals with many members well known for psychoactive drug and stimulant effects.
Aside from PEA, there are many other ingredients in chocolates which cause chocolate craving, fight depression and anxiety, and increase energy and stamina among high performance athletes. PEA like amphetamine, is responsible for releasing the hormones dopamine and nor-epinephrine in the brain, making a person feel elated and uplifted.
Is it an aphrodisiac? You will have to find that out for yourself. See if the “chocolate theory of love” is true. But, remember, it is good for your heart and brain. Enjoy.
Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.
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