[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

I agree. Love is not pain. Addiction, wanting and attempts to possess others are the cause of the pain we attribute to love. True love does not require anything, it just is. I do believe you can love someone and also feel that "addiction" -- that's why the pain seems to be coming from love itself. If you can separate the two the way you have, you find a peace with love that opens you up to experiencing more of it. And if you are able to recognize and release the addiction, you will be very magnetic to people because of your ability to show them what real love is about.