May 12th- What is Love?

Many times I have questioned this, and yet I still do not know. I know what I feel, but to say that I know what love actually is would be a lie. There's been many I have felt strong emotions toward. Some, it was for. Others, it was against.
I grew up being taught that love was honesty, trust, loyalty, care, respect, sacrifice, understanding, acceptance, honor, and protection. Honesty builds trust, but without trust it is hard to tell if one or the other is truly being honest. Loyalty can also be referred to as faithfulness in which you both are faithful to one another and only to one another do you cling to without going behind one another to secretly be with someone else. Care, to me, is when you care about your partner and your partner cares enough about you that you both are always seeking the safety and happiness of the other and do anything within each your own power to see that the other gets just that. Respect is knowing the limits of your partner and trying to remain inside those limits and same for your partner. It can also be letting your partner be and do what they want to be or do without trying to force them to be or do otherwise as your partner does for you. Sacrifice is when both of you will do anything to be with each other even if it means going somewhere or doing something that you or they may not care to go or do or even feel safe going or doing. It is putting yourself on the side for your partner just to be sure they are safe and happy and vice a versa. It is also a way to show care. Understanding is when despite the differences of your partner, you understand their feelings and interests and try to share in those feeling and interests without trying to make that person feel or be interested in something else. This goes hand and hand with acceptance because to show understanding, you must accept your partner for those differences and look past them to find the similarities that bring you two together instead. Honor is still a mystery to me as much as the word love is. Protection is when you would put yourself on the line to have your partner be safe from all types of harm that may come to them, and they do the same for you.
It's so funny how I know what all those words mean except for honor, but yet I still search for the true meaning of love. In all my relationships, I was the one who stood firm to each and every one of those things, but in the end love seemed to be just a word my partner had thrown out to me just to get what they wanted from me. Some, it was money. Others, it was sex. Still others, it was for the thrill of having so much power over me they felt they could control me way beyond my limits. I now feel very strong emotions for someone I met a year ago (and she knows who she is), and I sit here wondering if this will finally be the one who will teach me the true meaning of love. I feel in my heart she will, but yet my mind is afraid I may again be wrong. I want so badly to follow my heart and take a leap of faith, but when my heart has failed me so many times before due to the softness and ease with which it attaches itself to just anyone who ever claimed they loved me, that actually showed interest in what I had to say, and anyone who said all the right words I needed to hear, it is easy to see why I hesitate. Even so, I will not stop taking those chances because I never know when that leap will land me right where I need to be.
What is love? I leave all my readers now with that question. Take care and be safe always everyone.