I think the difference is that obsession is unhealthy, & it's to the point where everything in the obsessive person's life comes down to their compulsive ideas and/or emotions about the object of their affection. It affects everything in that person's life.

I believe that true love never dies. Even though I "hate" my ex-boyfriend, I know that I still actually love him. I wouldn't waste my energy hating him if I didn't. The opposite of love is apathy, not hate.

this reminds me of the Castaway movie when she thought tom hanks was dead.

if it is true love, I think you can always love them even if you're not together. if someone deeply impacted my life, they have a place in my heart and I still have love for the person. I think obsession is more lustful than anything else and can make one act irrationally. love, to me, feels serene and comforting...like everything just feels right and you are in paradise

I can say with certainty that I have been obsessed and I have been in love. Let me tell you they are worlds of different!

When I was obsessed, I made up a relationship with someone just so I wouldn't feel lonely even though he rarely showed interest in me. I was obsessed with the guy so much so that I didn't even know the person I was just pretending that he was everything I was looking for even though I didn't really know much about him. I would hate on any other girls that he would date too. I never got to the point that I would hurt him b/c I'm not that type of person but I was stuck in my head and addicted to something that wasn't real. It's just like people who become attached to someone and hurt them if they want to leave or hurt them if they've left. Obsession is so unhealthy! I was stuck on this guy for 6 years!

Love is everything. It makes the world go round... literally. I am currently in love with someone. We had a wonderful relationship but had to go our separate ways because we live 1000 miles away from each other. We rarely speak now because it is too hard. I still care for him and wish him the best. Sure I get jealous when I see that a girl comments on something of his on facebook in a sweet tone. But it's odd because I keep hoping that he will get with someone new because then I feel like I can finally move on. I want him to be happy. He always treated me right and we tried to make things work but it was just too difficult. We each had things to deal with on our own.

Love is selfless and selfish at the same time. Obsession is an addiction and incredibly selfish!

I don't know if it's because I'm tired, but I'm having a really hard time comprehending what you're saying.

obsession is based on emotion and biology. love transcends chemical reactions.

and no, "true" love doesn't die. i broke up with my True Love ten years ago.. he's across the country from me now.. we are both with other people now that we love also.. but I do still love him too, and a part of me will until the day that I die.

There are differences between the story of the POW's, the "abusive spouse that causes the angry partner" and obsession. The POW's didn't have an "obsession", they had Schrodinger's Cat. To them, they still had a relationship with their wives, which is a perfectly healthy thing to want to return to. They thought they were returning to their normal lives. The "abusive spouse" thing can be simple hate or feeling like you have to stay for the kids, or martyrdom-I HAVE to stay for the kids/myself/I don't deserve anything else (not that I'm trying to make light of the psychological torture some people go through in abusive relationships, where they're told they aren't good enough/worthy/competent repeatedly).

First of all, in response to your statement: "And sometimes love turns to hurt, which --when not confronted-- breeds bitterness, which leads to hate."

True love will never lead to hurt. The only thing that hurts you is another person's actions and betrayal. Love will never do that to you.

And regarding the scenario of WWII. My personal opinion is that I don't think those women ever stopped loving their first husband. They moved on to someone else once they were able to, after they got through the pain of losing their husband. But the new husband is loved with a different love. She will never forget her first husband that provided a home for her, gave her children, gave her warmth - but sometimes they move on out of necessity, especially during that time. Many women didn't work and the only way to have a steady income was to be married to a working man.

We can't really say if they loved the new man more or less and how that could be possible. We can't know for sure until we ourselves are put into that position.

Rage For Love

"Never say never."

"Nothing lasts forever."

"True love never dies, true love lasts forever."

Who knows what the heck to believe anymore, I could see it logically (even though it's completely emotional) being argued either way.

In my personal opinion, though, you only truly give away your whole heart once. I don't like to tamper with the phrase "true love" because the definition of that is different for every person and cannot be described in words.

The WWII story was not a single incident. It happened any number of times, all with slightly different details. There were cases where service men came home to their wives who had stayed single but there was another child in the house that wasn't his. It all worked out eventually, not to each one's satisfaction but "you can't un-ring a bell." Something held couples together, whether the original ones or the new ones, and there had to be a degree of love in the mix, otherwise why would they have coupled? Many had the wisdom and ability to forgive, a very important ingredient in a loving relationship. The post the other day about the effects of oxytocin probably had a lot to do with it too. I do think a person continues to love another long term even when they separate or one dies. True love has to be the kind that lasts into old age and morphs into the two being as one all through the years with each caring deeply and doing for the other first.