What is Love?

Is there such a thing as being too nice? When you love someone, don't you do everything in your power to prevent them from being hurt?

For me, loving someone means accepting all his faults, respecting him, and doing everything in my power to prevent him from being hurt in any way. But does loving someone come at the cost of me? Does loving someone mean that I have to end up being the one who's hurt? Does it mean that I have to be the one who's always compromising what I want and giving in to what he wants? Or is that just because I'm too nice and I would rather that I be sad than him being sad?

Someone once told me that I was too selfless. I give in to others too easily to ensure their happiness. I'd rather that I be unhappy and disappointed than them. Maybe this wise person was right. Maybe I do need to be more selfish sometimes. I'm not strong enough to be disappointed all the time. Sometimes, I need someone to love me and to give in to what I want.

Maybe I don't understand love as much as I thought that I did. Maybe things are too good to be true sometimes. All I needed was a slap from reality to wake me up from my fantasy world.