I am with most of the other members. Romantic love isn't a need, but rather something we desire because it brings us pleasure. But most of the time, its temporary anyway. Its the stuff you feel when you first date someone and then slowly it disappears.
And what ardour said about companionship.
Its normal to feel frustrated over this issue. Like why do you even want to be in a relationship so bad right? I think a lot of us ask this question at some point. Perhaps its because what we really seek is companionship, and we just think that companionship = romantic partner. But there are many ways to feel less alone...good friends, family, having a sense of purpose, pets. It doesn't help that the world around us is constantly feeding us with the same notion that our lives are incomplete without a partner.
It helps to slowly stop allowing external factors to play such a pivotal role in our thoughts and desires. And I think something happens when you get older too, this whole romantic partner things seems to become less important. But even if all said and done, we still crave a romantic partner, thats ok. A lot of us feel that way. But it doesn't have to become a huge missing piece. Try to make more friends, engage in other social activities. Its not the same, but its better than nothing =)
