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Welcome to the Valentines Day edition of The Real Estate Espresso Podcast. 

I\\u2019m celebrating Valentines Day with my wife on the beach in Mexico. We take time each year to recharge. Sometimes taking holidays is easier than others. We have both been working really hard over the past several months and even into our holiday, there hasn\\u2019t been a day of true disconnect or relaxation for both of us. Project timelines spanning several months or years can mean that a holiday in the middle of a critical time of a project can be problematic. Whether it\\u2019s making sure the podcast is loaded and ready for the next day, sending a document to a lender, or dealing with an issue at the office, it seems there is always something requiring attention.

Through the process, I\\u2019ve learned that life is a journey. The global independence that the internet affords makes it possible for me to produce shows from my home office, from a hotel room anywhere in the world, or sitting by the beach in the South of France. You might have heard the birds chirping in the background over the past week.  

So on this Valentines day, I\\u2019m asking the simple question \\u201cwhat is love?\\u201d Is it a thing?

The dictionary isn\\u2019t quite sure what it is. It\\u2019s defined both as a noun and a verb. As a noun, it\\u2019s described as an intense feeling of affection. 

It is also defined as a verb, as in the sentence \\u201cDo you love me?\\u201d Or \\u201cI\\u2019d love a cup of Espresso.\\u201d 

But even when you describe love as a feeling, the feeling doesn\\u2019t just magically happen on its own. It requires some kind of action for the feeling to result. So in that context, I believe love is really a verb. By describing love as a verb, it\\u2019s clear that its an action word. Love of any kind requires action.  

Love doesn\\u2019t just happen. It\\u2019s the result of a choice, a choice to love. All persistent choices require commitment, conviction, tenacity, and integrity. Long term decisions require long term commitments. All too often people make decisions based on transient emotional states. 

I would not describe myself as someone who is hungry. But I was hungry last Tuesday around 5PM. That was a temporary state. I made a short term decision to eat something to deal with the temporary state. I didn\\u2019t make any life altering decisions because I was hungry at that moment in time. 

Loving successfully requires commitment to loving. It requires energy. The feeling of Love, now we\\u2019re talking about the noun is one of those basic human needs like Oxygen, water and food. Without food you can starve. Without oxygen you can suffocate. Without love, you will die. The short term replacements for love like lust are just not the same. They\\u2019re hollow and empty. 

Love can\\u2019t persist without commitment.