Love – the four-letter word that makes the world go round. Love is that intangible emotion that will smack you when you least expect it, because you don’t decide and plan and then fall in love with someone. It just happens – like that! However, many a time, people misconstrue infatuation with love, or even lust for for love. So how to be sure if it’s even love? By believing in it without a shadow of a doubt. If your gut is telling you that you’re in love and that you just can’t imagine a life without that person, then you’re probably in love.
But what does being in love really feel like? Is it butterflies in your tummy when you see that special someone? Or getting a tingly feeling when you think about them? Or the conviction that you’re right where you should be, beside that person you love? Maybe even a combination of all three? It’s not a cut and dried subject, this being in love thing.
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So to help you out, we’ve listed a few things that come pretty close to what love feels like. If you experience some or all of them, then you’re more than likely in love.
1. Feeling giddy
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You feel giddy by just being in their presence, when you’re in love. It never seems to go away altogether. It’s probably because all the happy hormones being released into your bloodstream that’s making you giddy. But hey, who’s complaining!
2. Needing to smile
Whether you’re thinking about them while cooking pancakes for breakfast, or working through your day, you start to smile almost unconsciously. No need to blush, we’ve all been there!
3. Craving their presence
When you’re in love, you want to be in their presence all the time. But since you realize that they do have their own life besides being with you, you wait for them to reply to your seemingly innocuous ‘whatcha doing’ text that you sent hours ago. Oh, the agony of being in love!
4. Making them happy
As much as you’re happy, you want much more for the person you love. When you’re in love, you want the other person to be happy as well, whether it’s by making them coffee just the way they like it, or being there for them when they need you, or hugging their hurts away. Any little thing you can do to make them happy, you’re ready to do it. But you do realize that you can’t do this at the cost of your own happiness.
5. Inexplicable happiness
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Want to know what love feels like? It’s like floating on cloud nine. It’s like an extra spring in your step. It’s like that sparkle in your eyes. You’re so happy being in love, that you become happiness.
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6. Worrying about their well-being
You know when you realize that the world is a pretty scary place? When you’re in love. When you don’t hear back from them when they said they would, you start to panic and go into hope + pray mode. Even if you’re not the hoping and praying kind of person, you start to do so because you want the person you love to be safe and sound.
7. Becoming a matchmaker
Although this can be slightly annoying to the people on the receiving end of your efforts, you can’t help but play matchmaker to your single friends when you’re in love. You start feeling like when you’re this happy being in love, why not make others happy as well? But be careful in your efforts because not every single person is looking for love.
8. Feeling like the world really is your oyster
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When you’re in love, you start to feel as if everything is finally falling into place, even if it’s just a coincidence. Since you’re satisfied being in love, you start to look for it in every other aspect of your life. It’s only natural.
9. Anticipation about seeing the object of your affection
When you’re away from your love, you can’t bear the separation. But distance does make the heart grow fonder, and you anticipate seeing them like a kid waits for Christmas morning. This anticipation heightens your feelings for your beloved, and makes you happier when you finally see them.
10. Knowing that they will always be there
When you’re in love, you have this blanket feeling of security, that no matter where you are or what you’re doing, they will always be there for you. It doesn’t matter if you’ve argued with each other or spewed every hateful word you know, when you’re in love, you just know that they will always be there for you, just like you’ll be there for them.
11. Feeling like the most beautiful you’ve ever been
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If you want to know what love feels like – you just have to look in the mirror. It feels like you’re the most beautiful person that ever existed on the face of the planet. All of your negative feelings you harbor towards yourself – whether it’s about how you look or how doughy your body is, they will gradually disappear. It isn’t any kind of voodoo, but the conviction that you are loved for who you are rather than who you think you ought be to attract love.
12. Loving yourself is essential
It’s often said that you need to love yourself before seeking love from someone else. And even if you love yourself the way you are, you can’t help but see flaws when you look in the mirror. But these will gradually vanish into thin air as if they never even existed to begin with, when you’re in love. That’s because you’ve learned to love yourself, warts and all, by loving someone else, with their flaws and all.
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13. Feeling strong
When you’re in love, it’s a positive feeling, and positivity gives people strength. Whether it’s pushing yourself harder to achieve your goals, or to be best possible version of yourself, or being more compassionate, love fuels these and makes you strong.
14. Feeling fragile at the same time
Image source: Pixabay, under Creative Commons License
With the strength that love gives you, comes the pain of heartbreak, if ever that happens. It can be more painful than a heart attack, or so some people claim.
Sigh! It’s so glorious to be in love, right? You’re strong yet vulnerable – that happens only when you’re in love. If you’re ever in doubt about your feelings for the other person, check your feelings with the list above.
Featured image source: Pixabay, under Creative Commons License
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