[quote author=wvalady1968 link=board=women;num=1070843675;start=0#0 date=12/07/03 at 16:25:34]
"...So...how do you know when you're really in love?"
Guys and ladies?
[/quote]
A "toughie" for sure!
I'm not so certain there is just one (and only one) pat answer to this. --It's probably going to be one of those that will vary from couple to couple, individual to individual.
This point makes sense, I believe--you may as well set aside the "sexual attraction" thing for the time being... (although that is important in the equation, of course to some extent). Being in love is so much more than that, which is as it should be. Falling in love encompasses so many aspects of two people being brought together. It's mysterious, (sometimes elusive), always captivating and riteting while its in progress and yet, DEVESTATING when it fails! So, falling in love can be a complexed matter. And, one is never the same having experienced it --even just once. You become a different person. You tend to react in various new ways to that word "love" from that point onward. The word "love" can leave you hot, warm or-- cold. It all depends.
Feeling like you're in love could be a genuine "head over heals" (giddy!) feeling, or not for some.. Others might get that little "hunch" that "this is the one!" Many just take the chance (the gamble?) that this is going to be the real thing and hope for the best. But then, there are those who just genuinely seem to know (somehow?)
--with no doubts whatsoever.
I think TRUE love rarely comes along all that quickly.
It has to develop over time it seems. When all the common ground and common tangents are finally discovered, pondered, and otherwise "settled upon" between two people, then each one typically will get that "lonely, lost, and incomplete inkling" down deep inside when away from the other. Thus, that "bonding" has then obviously (and, quite magically!) all started.
Yep, that's a sure sign then, that something has happened-- big time. And, followed by some more of that "inner inkling" stuff for yet awhile longer and, well--that little "L" word won't ordinarily be too far behind!
Falling in love may often defy description, but it can almost always be summed up as.... very beautiful
(when all factors seem to be working positively, that is.)
Then, there are those who make the commitment (who, at the time call their mutual attraction "love") but find out all too differently later on.
THAT would be the hard way to determine "when" you're in love, (or, if you're not.)