How do I or does anyone really know when they are in love? How did you know that you were in love?

I knew I was in love when I didn’t want to be – when I had everything to lose, when to be with the one I love would require breaking up my family with my first husband and when I did it anyway.

I’ve only been in love twice. I think its pretty different for most people. However for me the clue was if I saw a possible future with this person. I am a bit commitment phobic. So if I dated a guy and couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow but I didn’t think of a future together, then I knew it was just infatuation. Only 2 guys did I ever see a future with. The first one I dumped because although I knew without a doubt I loved him, I knew he didn’t feel equally the same so I moved on before it would become near impossible to do so. The second one was a keeper and my husband.

You know that you are in love when you care more about the other person’s happiness than you do about being in a relationship with them.

You want their happiness and success more than you want your own.

I knew I was in love when the well-being of that person became more important to me than my own.

@Marina what a wonderful way of putting it.

I knew I was in love when I could hardly bear not being around her.

Well for me it was easy. I met mi fiancee at my mother’s house when i came to visit for my sister’s birthday. She’s my sister’s friend and she had (i later found) purposefully invited her to the house before we all went out so I would meet her. The second she walked up the steps i saw her and was stricken. I went to my mother’s room and said “I just met the girl I’m going to marry”

I knew I was in love with him when I had no way of describing how I felt. I tried and tried to attempt to wrap my mind around the emotion; to put it into words. The closest I can come is: him. To me, he is everything that love is supposed to be like. He is, literally, my other half. We share the same, goals, dreams, laughs, humor, fears. We are both clingy, but not to clingy for each other. He is my imperfect perfect <3

His little quarks and habits are the cutest things in the world. He is my rock, my shoulder to cry on and my best friend. I would die for him, fight for him, sacrifice, endure pain and torture. I protect him because he is apart of me. For something to happen to him; it happens to me also. We have been connected on such a deep and profound level. Life does not exist without him.

Life has taken on a whole new light; I’m not here for “me” anymore; I’m here for “us”.

Love can sometimes be funny too, it can sneak up on you and one day you wake up and it dawns on you that you just can’t quite picture yourself without that person as part of your life, and more to the point, you don’t want to. It’s when you find yourself putting their needs and desires ahead of yours for no reason other than it just feels right (more important perhaps) and when you reflect on it you realize that making them happy is what’s making you happy.

You know it’s more than lust and infatuation when time begins to pass and you begin to notice you’re not bored or looking for a change or an excuse. It is not a feeling that wanes on it’s own.

I knew when I looked at her and just wanted to wrap my arms around never let go. Losing myself in the moment, experiencing it with all my senses, not thinking, not considering, just enjoying.

I guess for me love is much like the purest clarity and sense of wonder you could ever imagine. As if seeing the world for the first time rather than gazing at it’s shadow.

My only real thought after reaching that point and having time to digest it was, am I sure I want to do this. But by then, for better or worse, I had already made my choice and simply resolved myself to gain as much from it as I possibly could no matter the outcome and never regret it or take it for granted.

I didn’t have to tell her, she knew and some time later she asked me when I knew how I felt about her. I told her, spinning it as I would a tale and drawing up every detail I could remember, every feeling, every emotion…

ah, but I get carried away, love is simple, everyone tastes it a little differently perhaps, but once you’ve had your first real sip you no longer have to ask, you simply know, and you never forget it.

@wonderingwhy : Beautiful response! Much lurve to you! <3

I’ve loved twice, been IN LOVE once. I can’t stop thinking about him, even when we are together he is on my mind. I get butterflies everytime I think of him. There are no arguements. I know I want to be with him forever. I want to look after him, make him happy. I’d give my life for him. When he holds my hand, it fits. When he kisses my lips, we click, when we make love, we are one.

I knew I could love him after first speaking to him, I knew I did love him only a few weeks into our relationship.

Lust and infatuation are generally pretty strong indicators of love, despite popular opinion. The emotion of love can actually be measured by taking samples of the amounts of different chemicals in the body. While I’ve not got the resources to perform such tests, I’ve often wanted to.

In other news, resisting the temptation to say ‘I just know’. And as I’ve said to my S/O a couple of times “I doubt I’ve felt this way 5 or 6 times before.”. I just recognise the feeling by now.

@Dibley @ElleBee @wonderingwhy I am so happy for all of you, I wish you the indescribable joy we had for 15 years.

@Marina couldn’t agree more

@stranger_in_a_strange_land : Thank you!! That means so much to me <3 You have put a BIG smile on my face! I can’t wait to see him tonight!!!

Hmmm. This has helped but I still doubt myself. I guess that means I’m not in love. I’m in something though, something serious too. I can’t stop thinking about him and replaying every moment we’ve had together in my head all the time. He lives far, I think thats why I think about him so often. I miss him. Distance makes the heart grow fonder. :-/

Before I ever touched her hand, hugged her or kissed her, I knew my life would not be complete without her in my life and I knew I would give my life to protect her and care for her although she is quite capable of looking after herself. Her needs always are more important to me than my own.