What Is Love And How Do You Know When You Are In Love

There is nothing better than the feeling of being in love but what is love and how do we know when we are in love?

We like lots of people but being in love is a very different thing. We like our friends and family but love is something special. Love is wanting to be with someone for reasons you may not understand. When you are in love you want to be with that person whatever they are doing and wherever they are.

We have all seen the romantic movies where the couples are madly in love and overcome all the problems that get in their way but how realistic is this idea of being in love and what chance do we have of experiencing a love that is so powerful and compelling.

We have all seen the romantic films where couples meet and go through their troubles before finally ending up together in a wonderful romantic ending where their love for each other is complete and magnificent. The film usually ends there and we don't get to see what happens five or ten years in the future. Would it have carried on as wonderfully well? Would they have had an acrimonious split just a couple of years down the line? We will never know but we can speculate and it could go either way because real life is not like the movies.

Love is a wonderful thing but it is a precarious and delicate thing as well. When we are in love everything seems wonderful but if that feeling of being in love feels threatened or damaged in some way it can quickly turn on it's head and lead to animosity and even downright hatred of the other person. If our love is betrayed we can get very hurt indeed and we may react in ways that are quite unlike our normal behaviour.

Love is wonderful but real life can get in the way. When we have our day to day problems to deal with love can get pushed to one side as we deal with the problems of life. It is at times like this that partners need to reassure each other that they are still very important but there are other things to deal with right now. The ideal situation is to involve your partner so you work together to overcome difficulties as a partnership which can strengthen the bonds between you both.

In the movies couples only have plot line problems that seem to suit the ideas of the screenwriter. Real life problems can be dreary and tedious or scary and even life threatening and they can be very difficult to overcome. In the movies a few simple actions will sort the problem and everything is rosy again. Real life can be so very different.

If you and your partner do share a special bond and you both want to be together you can overcome most problems that life can throw at you but you must both work together for the benefit of your relationship and not allow events to split you apart.

The answer to the question of how do you know you are in love is not simple. We cannot just set a list of questions and tick the boxes to score the result. Love is a slippery customer that almost certainly varies between different people. Love is feelings not logical thinking. Philosophers, writers and poets have been trying to define love for centuries and nobody seems to have found the answer yet. So, how do I know I am in love?

When you are in love with somebody there is some sort of magic in the air. You feel different when you around them. You feel different when you speak with them on the phone and you even feel different when you think of them. Something about them generates feelings inside you that make you feel good.

If you are in love with someone who does not respond to your passion you still get those feelings but they are also tinged with a sadness that they are not responding to you. It seems hard to understand that they would not feel the same as you but love is something special and not everyone can enjoy those feelings of love towards those people who love them.

Only you can know if what you feel is love but since we can't define exactly what love is you have to go on your feelings to decide if it is really love.

Do you feel happier and more fulfilled when you are with that person?

Do you miss them when they are not there?

Do you feel that life would be disappointing if they were not a part of your life?

Do you care what they are doing when they are not with you?

If you can answer yes to all of these questions it may be love. If you have deep

friendships with people of either sex a lot of these questions may get the answer yes. Love is like friendship with an extra something special. There is a longing to be with someone that does not apply to friendships.

You may care about your friends and you may feel you need them but it is unlikely you feel that magical specialness that is love and it is that magical chemistry that answers the question for you when you wonder if it is more than just friendship and if you are truly in love.