Everyone has heard of that magical thing called love. It's portrayed on everything we watch; movie trailers, commercials, TV Shows, music and paper advertising. Everyone wants to fall in love someday; Others may already have and are living thief happily ever afters.

What is love anyways? Is it just the release of a chemical in our brain? Is it some fuzzy feeling that disorientates us when we are near that person? Is it some form of wild infatuation that makes us do crazy things? Not a lot of people know what the real meaning of love is but everyone has their own interpretation of it.

As a hopeless romantic I have a very old fashioned look on love. I adore little notes being left around for each other to find and brighten our days; small surprises like their favorite flower, candy or CD; going out on romantic (but not expensive) dates; cooking dinner for each other after the other had a long day; just being able to have fun with each other ,be true to who you are and always showing each other how much you mean to one another.No one these days whether they claim to be in love understands the importance of the little things.

In this generation it's hard to find someone who realizes that love isn't just about sex; isn't just about yourself; isn't about having your way because you "wear the pants" in the relationship. There are two people in a relationship for a reason. Although to have a healthy relationship you do need to take care of yourself, you also invited in someone who has chosen to stand by you when you are down and help you back up, the least you can do for them is return the favor. Communicate with your loved one about what you expect from this relationship don't ever lie or keep something from them; don't be insecure about your relationship, you both chose each other for a reason; Most important of all... DON'T FORGET WHY YOU FELL IN LOVE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Love, real love is a once in a lifetime experience. When love leaves you it takes a part of you with it, leaving a hole behind making you feel incomplete without them. Everyone will think they've been in love more than once but if you don't feel anything for those "loves" now, it was never real. If you lose someone you truly loved, really loved, it would hurt when you thought of them. You would still be able to hear their voice, smell them, feel their touch on your skin. Them being gone would take up your body and mind, clouding all your senses. Love is a beautiful thing but it can cause a lot of pain if you manage to lose it.

Now when you start to fall in love it feels like you are on cloud nine. Things are going great and your loved one can do no wrong. Some people refer to this as the "Honey Moon Phase". I truly do not believe in the existence of this "phase". When you really love someone and want to be with them, yes you want to impress them and show off a little, but you also want them to love you for who you really are in your heart of hearts. You need to be true to you who you are when you meet them otherwise they will not fall in love with you they will fall in love with who you pretended to be.

So if you are 100 percent real with yourself and who you want to be with them than that cloud 9 feeling will never end, it will grow as the two of you grow together. You will always cherish each other and their faults as some would put it. If you really loved them though, they would never be considered faults because you would have fallen in love with them for every part of who they are unconditionally and would never even consider looking down upon any part of them.

Love is unconditional, irrational, emotional and painful... but it's one of the best things in life and a great accomplishment if you find it and keep it.