What Is Love? Are You In Love?

Most of us have felt like we’ve been “in love” before and then have broken up only to realize that what you had wasn’t the real deal. Just because you’re exclusively dating someone doesn’t mean you’re in love. Others rush into feeling in love because they don’t like being alone and rush into a relationship. If you’ve been in a relationship for less than one month and you think you’re in love, you’re probably wrong.

Building a long lasting relationship takes more time than just one month. Some people mistake physical attraction and lust for love. Having a great sex life doesn’t necessarily mean you and your partner are a perfect match. True love goes much deeper than just the physical part. Here are a few ways you can tell it’s love.

• All you can think about is your partner especially when you’re not together. This goes way beyond the first 6 months of dating. Although you are quite comfortable on your own, you feel more complete when you are both together.

• When thinking about your future, you can’t imagine it without your partner to share it with.  This is big. When you feel this way, it is most likely love. I’ve had long standing relationships before where I just knew that I wouldn’t want to be with this person forever. Wanting to be with your partner forever means that you have accepted them, the good parts and bad parts. We all have our own idiosyncrasies and even though you see your partner’s short comings, it doesn’t bother you.

• You really care about them. If you want to know everything about them and be there for them at all times, it’s a sign you’re in love. Remember when you casually dated people. You weren’t as interested in knowing every aspect of their life and their deepest and most secretive thoughts. It probably bothered you if they were down a lot. Maybe you couldn’t stand their whining and complaining. But now that you’ve found true love, you just want to take all of their bad times and pain away from them.

• You hardly ever give another person a second glance. You used to notice attractive people when they walked by but now you could care less.

• Your partner becomes your top priority. You see your friends less. You’ve dropped your hobbies and now your attention is focused just on your partner. All you want to do is spend time with them. Your friends give you a hard time about it but you don’t care.
  • You have great chemistry. You both get along well and share the same values and ideas. Your partner almost becomes an extension of yourself.