There are many people in your life who love you, some will come and go and others will remain forever. Some will show constantly that they love you and others will hide it, only revealing it through fragments of different motions, phrases, or actions. Everyone knows what it is like to be loved by someone, however trying to find someone that you love in a way that you want to spend the rest of your life with them can be a little tougher than we thought it would be when we were younger. How are we supposed to know who is right for us and who is just telling us what we want to hear? I have thought a lot about this recently and have decided on a few things about romantic love. Someone who loves you and wants nothing but the best for you is not someone who puts you down for who you are or what you do. They are not someone who encourages you to mold into a person who suits their wants or needs perfectly. You should compliment each other, not desire to be the same person. They shouldn't make you feel like your friends are not good enough, and they also shouldn't make you feel like you can't be with your friends as much as you are with them. A healthy relationship only works when both people are encouraging the best for each other, and having no friendships outside of your partner is anything but the best for someone. You also cannot buy love; this should be a given. You cannot make someone love you by giving them every material thing they may desire, and vice versa. Money cannot create a bond between two people, and attempting to build a relationship on monetary luxuries alone is something that can end in nothing but disappointment. The person who loves you will be completely honest with you in hopes that they will be helping to better you, and you should give them this honesty in return. True love is wanting the best for the other person, even if it may not be exactly what you had planned. When it comes down to it, those three words don't hold much weight without actions and feelings to back them up. Sometimes we get caught up in saying "I love you" without stopping to think if we mean it. You cannot save a failing relationship by throwing those three empty words out there in hopes of catching the other person's attention and sparking enough interest to continue the downfall. We tend to rush into things because of outside influences as well; all of our friends are in relationships, we're lonely, or we're bored. This can create a haze around us which can be hard to break through. We tend to settle for a broken connection with someone for the sake of time and personal insecurities. This makes things much harder when the right person comes around. I have found myself in a constant conflict lately of not really knowing what to believe when it comes to dating and relationships in general. College is a world in itself and it's almost impossible to tell who is genuine. I can only comment on experiences that I've been through and witnessed, but if I can save anyone heartbreak or even just time with this article, then that's all that I ask. This is not a list of the perfect traits of a guy, or the perfect relationship; this is an article with a list of points that are so basic that I believe every relationship and person should take these into consideration before rushing into something that they may later regret. I know that love comes at different times for everyone; for some it may have come already, for some they have passed it up and are waiting for it to come back around, and for others they haven't found it yet. I have seen too many of my friends hurt for reasons like this and I just hope that everyone who reads this will realize that the person who loves you will love you with all of their heart; they will want the very best for you, even if they aren't very good at showing it, so don't settle for anything less.
