The first kiss with a romantic partner represents a treasured moment of love that should be cherished as a gift. True love is based on understanding, mutual trust, respect, and balance between partners rather than transient emotions. Seeing relationships as based on being trustees of love for one another sets people free from grasping or guarding the other person and encourages treating them with dignity. Real love is a continual flowing force like a river rather than a closed relationship like a pond, and the feeling of love can continue even after particular relationships end.