Many of you may have someone you constantly think about. You may not even be in a relationship with this person, but you keep asking yourself: am I in love?
It is a scary thing, but, in my opinion, one of the most rewarding. Well, clearly being a love expert here, here are a few things I have picked up along the way. Prepare to have vast knowledge dropped on you.
1. You Constantly Try To See Them
When you find yourself in love with someone, you have the urgent desire to see them all the time. Whether you stop by their locker to check if they're there between classes or are always making plans to simply hang out, the intentions are all the same; you want to be with them. Sometimes just being in their presence makes life just a little bit better. Always wanting to have this face to face connection is one sign that you have caught the love bug.
2. You Fight About Insignificant Issues
Honestly, this point just seems downright counterintuitive, but hear me out here. When you and your partner are fighting, you know that your relationship is actually healthy. You want to be able to talk things through and be honest with each other. You have to learn to cope with your significant other. I am not talking about constantly fighting. There should be a stable ratio between the more romantic side and the more challenging one. Keep the fighting to a minimum, but do not think that a little fighting isn't normal. You just don't want to be overly loving and in the "honeymoon phase" your entire relationship, because you are either lying to yourself, or you aren't being honest with each other.
3. You Go Out Of Your Way
Honestly, if you don't do this one, I don't know how you could say you really like this person. When you love someone, you put their needs over your own. If your partner is having a rough day and you notice, make sure to stop and maybe treat them to a little ice cream. It may be an inconvenience to you, but it should definitely be worth it. You want your partner to be happy; so, if it means spending a little money on gas or food, then so be it.
4. Make Your Day
Say you are experiencing the "worst day of your life", who do you imagine going home to after a long day, just to lay down and have a few moments of peace with? You see them and immediately start to feel a little better. You may not even have to talk to each other. Just their being there is enough for you. It is certainly important for you to make them happy, but they should also make you very happy.
5. You See A Future With Them
This one seems a little obvious, but, in reality, love is something you want to last. If it's just an innocent crush or fling, you probably wouldn't think so in depth about what you want your life to be like. Do you see the two of you with a few kids running around? Or maybe you just want to spend the rest of your life with them, going through adventures with each other day by day? Regardless, seeing yourself in a future form definitely means you have strong feelings for them.
6. You Can't Imagine Life Without Them
This connects to the previous idea that you see yourself able to live out your lives and do things together, but love forces you to take a primitive desire for someone. It's almost like this raw longing for them. When you are unable to have them, life just isn't the same. Though, the way I see it, you may be able to live without someone, you just do not ever want to. It's a need that can only be fulfilled by them.
7. You Aren't Afraid
Love exhausts all. Love itself may not be something that brings you fear, but love can sometimes be a little bit scary. With love, you need to be able to do things without worrying what other people think of you. Nothing matters expect her; so, why care about what others expect. Make sure to hold her hand in public, or take her and her family out to dinner. It shows how much you care about her. It might make you nervous, but you love her; so, you do it anyway.
8. You Can Be With Them Good or Bad
Not every day is a great day. There will be days where your partner may come home and not be able to treat you as well as they normally do, but you still have to love them unconditionally despite that. Love is patient. Over time, you will learn how to deal with a difficulty and try to make it easier on your partner because you want them to be happy. Along with that, you must be able to love their imperfections. Not everyone is perfect, and you must accept their flaws in order to fully love someone.
Love is scary. Love is beautiful. Love is unconditional. Love is selfless. Love is a lot of things, but love is never going to feel the same way to different people. When you are in love, you will know.