George Burns once quipped, "Love is a lot like a backache. It doesn't show up on X-rays, but you know it's there." His words are true indeed. However, love does show up in one's attitudes and actions. When a relationship does not feel as loving as it could, three ingredients are conspicuous by their absence. They are admiration, respect, and freedom.

A client called one morning, complaining that his supervisor and co-workers did not notice him or appreciate the work he did. I asked him, "Do you have a need that is unfulfilled?" He replied, "Yes, I think I need recognition for what I do.

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As we walk along our paths in life, we will encounter several forms of friendships. There will be friends of convenience, friends by association, and friends of the heart. Friends out of convenience are friendships that you might have simply because you both are accessible to one another. These friendships are common in a work or school environment as people are united by place alone. You might even term these friendships as 'associates' instead of friends, because you associate with one another because you feel that you have to.

These types of friendships can easily disappear as quickly as they came or they can actually turn into more meaningful friendships as time moves on. Then there are friends by association, friendships that exist because of an association with another friend. You might acquire these forms of friendships because of your current friends. You acquire your friend's circle of companions and make them your own. These associations can lack strong foundations and even knowledge of one another, but either way, you respect them as a part of the friend that originated the encounter.

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In any relationship particularly marriage trust is an important element; trust is the basic building blocks of love relationships and any other kinds of relationship. Without trust there could be no relationship or the relationship may be casual or not as deep as that which is based on trust. You can't manifest love to your partner without trust that is impossible. Because we cannot honestly say we love a person in the absence of trust, for it is an important element that constitutes with affection. That is why before love relationships are established there has to be trust between partners. And there are five keys in maintaining a good love relationship based on trust as a prerequisite.

Honesty is always an element that would form the foundation of a trustworthy relationship. You should always be open to your partner no matter how disgusting your revelations may be at times. You must secure your partners' emotional state by assuring your partner that he or she doesn't have to worry about secrets that your partner may not know about. If you keep no secrets to your partner then it's a manifestation that you are truly honest with your partner. Aside from keeping no secrets you must remember to be faithful with your partner even in simple ways. You should avoid entertaining people who may have intentions that would be considered detrimental to the legitimate love relationship you currently have.

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In the first session of our meditation camp, I ask people to make an honest list of at least one or two persons in their lives who they really love. Usually in the beginning, people come up with a big list: husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister and so on.

They include people whom they would like to please or need to please in order to be happy themselves. As they hear me talk about real love, they start crossing out names from their list one by one! Understand, if you cross out something, then it was not truly there in the first place.

Many people include certain people in their love list because these people give them a ‘feel good’ feeling. What do I mean by a ‘feel good’ feeling? It is a certificate saying, ‘You are good. You are this, you are that’ etc.

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It’s a suitably melodramatic term for the moment when a firstborn child is displaced from his pampered position by the arrival of a newborn brother or sister.

The accompanying feelings of pain and rage at the loss of that crown can be quite intense and, as most parents can testify, the corresponding behaviour can be equally dramatic.

It usually emerges either as aggressive acts – nipping, pinching, biting, trying to prise the new baby out of its mother’s arms – or regressive responses, such as bedwetting, thumb-sucking and clinging.

That competitiveness and jealousy can last well into adulthood, and it’s a common theme in religion, literature and popular culture – think Cain.

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If your partners emotional needs are being ignored or unfulfilled then it is doubtful that you would enjoy a satisfying intimate relationship. Often these emotional needs have very little to do with sexual fulfillment; however your intimate relationship will always bear the brunt of everything else that is failing in the relationship first. Investigate each others emotional needs and options available to fulfill these on a consistent basis. Explore opportunities to make your partner feel completely masculine/ feminine and allow them to shine in their confidence.

Fears It is difficult for both men and women to establish a close bond and intimacy where there is fear. Frequently, these fears and insecurities cause jealousy, control and withdrawal, all of which undermine the very foundation of your partner’s emotional needs. Fears undermine the emotional connection between partners. Its only through open communication and exploring one another’s fears that they may be met together and either defeated or mitigated.

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Relationship is a means to an end versus an end in itself. The true purpose of relationship is the full flowering of each partner but only those who conquer fear reach the seventh stage of fulfilled love:

Most people are afraid of love because they are afraid of their own deepest joy, delight and inner freedom.

In relationship, we must reach a place where being honest and being true to yourself is more important than the survival of the relationship ! Let me illustrate this using Stendhal's and Roland's seven stages of a love relationship:

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I'm 50 and have two grown-up children who are settled happily in their own lives. I divorced their father 12 years ago because he'd been having affairs. I've had several boyfriends and almost married one of them but luckily I found out in time he was also a womaniser.

For the past three years, I've been with a man I love but I'm not so certain he's in love with me. He has never said those three little words and now I wonder if I'll ever hear them. Although we live together, a lot of his clothing and personal possessions are stored at his mother's house. He sleeps there twice a week. Most of his post is still delivered there.

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Love is like a passion for those who know what this feeling is all about. Your world goes round when you come to know that some one is yours and only your forever.

Your partner becomes every thing for you. There are some tips that can make your partner feel that how much you matter to them.

Let us talk about guys first what they should do to make their girl friends feel good. Girls always like to have a boy friend who listens to her, show care for her.

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Is life meant to be enjoyed or endured? More often than not we endure life with all its pressures and demands. With a fluctuating and uncertain economic future, many of us face job losses or cutbacks. We live paycheck to paycheck and only hope to make it through each week without any unexpected glitches in our lives. What are we to make of this life?

How many of you really possess the abundant life that Jesus promises to give? He did say that He came to give us life, and to have life more abundantly (John 10:10). How are we to interpret this passage when the other shoe drops? How are we to enjoy life when it seems that most of our time is spent paying bills or mending relationships. Maybe the answer is defined in how we understand the meaning of life.

Too many of us think life is wrapped up in our wealth, our identity, our reputation, our possessions, our relationships, or our jobs. If you ever believe that life is defined by these things, take a long look at Ecclesiastes. King Solomon.

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