Love and meaning of life

People who experience love do not question the meaning of their lives — love itself renders life meaningful. This observation makes the starting point for an analysis of the role love plays in finding the meaning of life. The development of love parallels with the development of self-identity. The author points out the importance of the distinction between passive and active love, i.e. of being loved and of being capable to love others. For the development of a positive self-identity is not sufficient only the experience of being loved, but is also necessary a capacity to enter into satisfactory emotional relations with others. The peak of the development of self-identity is seen as feeling, which can best be described as jou of life. This positive attitude toward life is equaled at the end of the paper with the feeling of a meaningful life