Column by Carly Grenfell

I read a book not too long ago about a psychologist.

He told stories about his patients and shed light on why people are they way they are.

It was one of the most fascinating books I think I have ever read.

And, I want to share a quote that has stuck with me since.

“Being loved is the problem, because love is a demand. When you’re loved –  someone wants more of you.”

Think about that. Think about how powerful the emotion of love truly is.

Whether you’re religious, spiritual or none of the above, we all experience love at some point in our lives.

To me, this quote captures the deepest and most complex definition of love.

We fall in love. We make love.

We love others. And oftentimes, we are afraid of love.

Why? Because love means accountability: love, as stated, demands something from us.

Expectations are derived from love.

It means we put our whole heart and soul into someone or something- and make ourselves completely vulnerable to rejection, failure or getting hurt.

In the basketball world, we are exposed to love each and everyday.

We are all here playing basketball at Drake University because we have a passion for it.

We sacrifice our time, social life and bodies for a sport we’ve been playing nearly our entire lives.

And, we do it together. We do it for each other.

Because we all know, thanks to love, that when one of us struggles, we all struggle.

That right there is a testament to how special being a part of a team really is.

Because we demand the best from each other, and ourselves, we experience love every single day.

But with that, love isn’t always pretty.

Love does not solve the world’s problems.

It doesn’t solve every problem on the basketball court either.

However, love is something that we can always fall back on.

It is what gets us through the biggest struggles.

While it certainly is a demand, it is also an incredible incentive.

Love is indeed the problem. But, it is the best possible problem any of us could ask for.

As Jay-Z would put it, “we all got 99 problems, but being loved ain’t one.”

Grenfell is a senior public relations and management double major and can be reached at [email protected]