What is love? Love does not have one concrete definition. It means something different and feels different to every individual. This is my own take on love; some people might disagree with it or feel differently, but this is what I personally believe.

This is what love isn't: Love is not being left with bruises after violent fights that take place every other night. Love is not controlling your partner by telling them that they can't go somewhere or that they can't wear a certain outfit, or forcing your partner to stop talking to certain people just because you dislike them, and it isn't love when you give up on the relationship because of a little bump in the road. Love isn't supposed to feel like a hurricane of anger, sadness and jealousy that slowly tears you apart, piece by piece until you're completely broken beyond repair. It shouldn't be leaving you feeling empty, exhausted, or in physical or emotional pain.

Even though it's cliche, a big part of love is caring about someone more than yourself. That can mean either giving someone your coat when they're cold and don't have one, or it can mean giving up something more significant to benefit the person you love, just because you want them to know that you care about them. Love is when you and your partner still make it known that you love each other, even if you're a bit angry with one another after an argument. It's love when you're willing to compromise when you disagree on a certain subject, rather than endlessly fighting over it and not letting the issue be resolved if it doesn't go your way. Love is when you stay with someone, whether they're happy and doing great in life, or they've hit rock bottom and need help getting back up. Love is when you don't give up on someone, no matter what obstacles there are.

Love isn't perfect, either. It's never only rainbows, butterflies and smiles. There will be good moments, random little gifts, and all kinds of cute cheesy things that couples do, but there will always be the occasional arguments; some of them will be major and might make you question your relationship, and some of the arguments will be over something small, like leaving crumbs all over the carpet and forgetting to clean them up. You and your partner may have different ideas and views, or annoying little quirks, but you'll learn to deal with them and they'll learn to deal with yours. There will probably be some problems in the relationship, such as living far away from each other or your parents disliking your partner for some petty reason. Love is when you work together to figure out a solution to these kinds of issues and persevere.