Love is something we experience every day, something we spend hours thinking about, yet something we never truly understand. According to a study, the ability to love is unique to human beings. It is a controversial topic seeing as many people argue that dogs can love their owners. Notice that nobody is as quick to defend tigers or bears? Even though bears are smarter animals, and are much more likely to experience something as complex as love, we as humans are convinced that the things/people we love, love us back. This common misconception, along with many others, is what causes us so much trouble with love. From a young age we learn from fairytales and cliché movies that there is no effort involved in it; that one day our prince charming will come along and that love is just something you stumble into. And so we sit around waiting for someone to love us and are actually surprised when it does not happen. Is it really love that is causing the problems, or is it our mindset on how love works? We are told of how sensational and magical it all is, but never anything of its seriousness. Of how we can get hurt, or hurt somebody in the process. Maybe if we were taught these lessons from the beginning, we would be more cautious and less foolish when it comes to love. Having a realistic mindset may be less romantic, but we owe it to ourselves to know better. Love is constantly changing and is something we could never dream of understanding; that is part of the beauty of it. Knowing so little, it is important to avoid making assumptions based on the experiences of others. When it comes to love, the only thing you can be sure of is your own feelings. Make your own experiences, learn from your mistakes, and follow your own path. Use your knowledge to your advantage.