Is Love Our Greatest Strength or the Biggest Lie We’ve Been Told?

By Emma Rabee

On a recent flight, I watched a movie that left a lasting impression on me. In one scene, a man asked a young woman if she believed in love. Her response was stark and unapologetic: “Love makes you weak. You look like a dog with its tongue out, begging for love.” The man, his voice trembling, replied, “Yeah, sobbing, it looks ugly.”

For a moment, I found myself questioning the truth in her words. Was love truly a source of weakness, something that stripped us of dignity? But this morning, during my meditation, a profound insight emerged—one that painted love in a very different light.

When a woman loves someone, she doesn’t beg. Love, for her, is not about desperation or lack; it is about abundance. A woman in love is giving, caring, and profoundly vulnerable. She shares with generosity, her heart wide open, touching the soul of the one she loves. Her love is like a cup that overflows, spilling its richness onto those around her.

But here’s the crux: if her cup is empty, if she has no love within herself, she cannot offer it to anyone. The ability to give love depends not only on her but also on her partner. It depends on whether he is open to receiving her love or stuck in the grip of past trauma and bitterness. A man who carries the wounds of past relationships or the scars of family trauma—perhaps unresolved pain from his relationship with his mother—may struggle to embrace love. He may avoid it, reject it, or hold it at arm’s length.

Yet, when a man has healed from these wounds, when he has learned to value love, he becomes a partner who doesn’t make a woman feel like she’s begging. He, too, learns to give and respond to love. Together, they create a natural, healthy flow of love—a beautiful and balanced exchange that nourishes both their souls.

In today’s society, however, we face a harsh reality. Decades of conditioning have taught us to be resilient to love, to see it as a source of weakness. We’ve been trained to believe that love makes us fragile, and as a result, healthy relationships have become elusive. This imbalance extends beyond the emotional realm, affecting our physical well-being. Women, in particular, bear the burden of suppressed femininity. We’ve learned to hide our love, to stifle our natural inclination to give, for fear of rejection or dismissal.

Men, on the other hand, have been conditioned to keep their guard up, to equate strength with emotional detachment. They’re told to focus on their careers, to avoid vulnerability at all costs. But this suppression of love—both in giving and receiving—leads to imbalance, manifesting in feminine diseases and emotional turmoil.

True strength lies in embracing love—not as a source of weakness but as a wellspring of power and connection. When we heal, when we let go of past hurts and open ourselves to love, we create the possibility for something extraordinary: a relationship built on mutual respect, vulnerability, and joy. It is only then that love ceases to be a battlefield and becomes the sanctuary it was always meant to be.