Are you inlove?

Something I have always wondered for my entire adolescence is how the heck do you know when you’re in love? How do you distinguish between “puppy love” or lust or real, full blown committed love? What are the differences? What are the key ingredients that make two people fall madly in love with one another?

I’ve been in a relationship and when I look back on it, some of the times when I thought I was in love, I was really just in lust or infatuated or in love with the idea of them rather than the actual person. I think falling in love becomes more serious and genuine with age and experience. I also think that love can happen earlier than we think. Though it’s hard for me to even take someone at 16 seriously when they say they love their boyfriend or girlfriend, I know that there must be some sort of truth to it.

How do we know when we’re really, truly in love? How did I decide that I love my boyfriend? Did I just look at him one day and decide? Did I make a checklist and go over every point on it? No. It just happens. You don’t know when, you don’t know how, you don’t know why. It just happens. And while there are no definite definers that will prove your feeling, there are some pretty good signs that you may be falling in love.
I'll give you 40 signs I made last night..

1. You think about them all the time. You can’t force yourself not to. You say, “Okay, today I will not think about this person,” but even being deliberate always backfires and you just end up thinking about them more.

2. You do things for them you normally wouldn’t do even if they’re annoying to you, like help them move or go out of your way like, seven blocks just to get to see him/her.

3. You find yourself lingering on stuff that smells like them — their T-shirts, their sheets. When you catch a whiff of them, you feel happy and safe.

4. You don’t mind the gross stuff like if they have eye boogers or a big pimple. It just makes them more human and therefore somehow cuter?

5. You want to know everything about their life — their childhood, their family, their favorite concert they ever went to, their best memories, everything. You could just listen to them tell you stuff for hours.

6. You find yourself goofily smiling alone when you think about their dumb face.

7. You talk about them incessantly. Your friends are all like, “Yeah, we know that already.. Jeez. You’ve told us already like seven hundred times.”

8. Anything you see reminds you of him/her.

9. Even if you were hanging out on a yacht with Zac Efron and Channing Tatum (or like, Megan Fox and Rosario Dawson), you would still be like, “Hmm. I wonder what So-And-So is up to. I should text them.”

10. You check their Facebook/Twitter/Instagram on a regular rotation just to see if they posted anything new. What? It’s not weird.

11. You find everything they do fascinating. Oh man, are they tying their shoes or brushing their teeth? YOU ARE RIVETED.

12. You feel like they really listen to you and respect your thoughts and opinions. You never feel afraid of telling them how you feel or what you think, which is kind of a new thing for you.

13. You want to go on trips together and find yourself planning vacations months in advance. You just sort of see them in your future.

14. You lend them stuff and feel good about it and you get to borrow things too.

15.  You can't stay mad at him/her for more than a minute or two. You actually have to try hard to stay mad.

16. You'll read your conversation over and over again, and notice yourself smiling so you stopped reading it.

17. You'll walk really really slow when he/she's around.

18. You'll feel shy whenever you're with him/her.

19. While thinking about him/her your heart will beat faster and faster..

20. By listening to his/her voice.. you'll smile for no reason.

21. While looking at him/her.. You can't see the other people around you.. you can only see that person.. ps: in slow motion..

22. You'll start listening to slow songs, and those songs will always remind you of someone.

23. He/She becomes all you think about..

24. You'll get really high just by their smell. :3

25.  You'll realize that you're always smiling to yourself when you think of them.

26. You'll do anything for him/her

27. You find her/his quirks charming.

28.  You care about him/her.

29. Other priorities take a backseat, you don't mind compromising sometimes.

30. You start thinking about the future, and he/she's in it.

31.  You cannot get them off your mind. They are the first thing you think about when you wake up, and the last thing you think about before bed. You see something at a store and think, “Oh! They’d really like that.” You wonder what they’re doing at every moment that they’re not with you, and you wonder if they’re thinking about you too.

32. You become much more generous. Suddenly, you buy them little gifts. You take this sudden burst of generosity and share it with others too.

33. They make you a better person. You smile more, laugh often, and keep your mind positive. You want to help others and spread the joy and love that you’re feeling every second of the day.

34. You want to know everything about their life — their childhood, their family, their favorite song, their most embarrassing moment, their deepest secrets. You want to know them inside and out. You want to be able to say that you’re the person who knows them best.

35. You don’t mind their flaws. Or if you do mind their flaws, you find that endearing and choose to love them anyway.

36. No one is more funny, attractive, or kind than your love. They are perfect (or maybe just perfect for you).

37. You feel comfortable around them. You feel like you can tell them anything, and they won’t judge you or look at you different. You are comfortable in your feelings, and you’re comfortable in their feelings for you.

38. You miss them all the time.

39. You see them in your future. You see them in your plans that haven’t happened yet.

40. You’re just plain happy. Enjoy it!

...while reading this, there was only one person on your mind the whole time..