Love is one of the most difficult english words to explain. That is because it can take on a few dozens meanings depending on context, circumstance, people, tone of voice, accent, etc. I personally love people, and by people I mean every human being, including myself. In my quest to develop a better understanding of what love, and to love is, I am currently reading the book “Love is letting go of fear” by Gerald G. Jampolsky. Great read!
It is clear that there are many formal definitions of Love. There is one universal definition that would make understanding love so easy for everyone. Here is the the universal definition of love: 
Love is caring for others, daring to take chances and crying when necessary.
To understand and remember a definition, focus on keywords that you can put together at any point in time and derive the overall meaning of a word or an expression.
- Love is caring for others sometimes more than we care for ourselves. I think of Mother Theresa who dedicated her life to bringing relief and a smile to people living in the most impoverished areas of the planet. Another good example is Nelson Mandela who spend over 25 years in prison because he wanted his people, the black men and women of South Africa to regain their freedom from Apartheid on their own land.
- Love is daring, having the courage to take chances on ourselves or on others. For example, in “The Matrix” (movie), Morpheus puts his life many times into the hands of Neo (hero of the movie), even when he has no evidence that Neo is the “chosen one”. That is love. The example might come out of a fiction movie, but it is a great illustration of the point made.
- Love is crying, sharing in someone’s pain or suffering. In most societies, it is considered taboo for a man to cry, shed tears. However, real men cry. They certainly do cry less than women but in general, someone who cries for (or because of) someone else or something like an event, is someone in love. A simple example, when the United States experienced the 9/11 attacks, almost everyone who loved the US or Americans shed tears.
Love is everywhere, and we do love people around us (even strangers) more than we are aware, or care to admit. If I get to meet with you and I tell you that “I love you”, understand that I care for you, I would happily bet on your success (even without knowing you), and I would cry for you when necessary. Do something different today, based on the universal definition of love, tell 10 people today that you love them. What is your general definition of love?