And I mean the real let's-get-married-and-become-old-people kind of love.
Not this oh-we-should-bang "love" that people seem to care so much about these days. Nope. I mean real legitimate love. Like the kind people used to have back in the day when folks talked to each other, you know, like face to face. No. Not "facetime." FACE TO FACE. There's a difference.
Well, before I get started I would just like to say that technology has nearly extinguished chivalry and true romance. Forgive me, but hearing about how your "bf" first text you "ily" is just not as inspirational as hearing about how your great-grandfather courted your great-grandmother. (For those that don't know, courting is this thing people used to do where the guy actually left his house and went to the girl's house and sat down and talked to her and her parents and got to know them. Scary, I know.) ANYways, moving on...
There are four simple steps to tell if you are truly in love with another person. HOWEVER! I must stress, just because YOUR love is true and follows these steps does NOT mean the object of your affection has the same true love for you. The trick is to find someone who loves you as truly and equally as you love them. ALSO, love Jesus first. If you both love Him, THEN apply these steps and you'll both be fine and dandy. (:
So on to step one. Love begins with...
1. Physical Attraction
Now, I know we all say, "I'm not into just looks!" And this may be true, but in MOST cases the first thing we notice about the people we come to love is their physical attributes. But true love doesn't stop there... (Also, there is an exception to this one step. In a few special circumstance, people have been known to fall in love with someone they were not initially attracted to physically. If this is true for you, skip this step and continue to step two.)
2. Emotional Attachment
Of course we all know, when we begin to fall in love there is a HUGE emotional attachment to that special someone. When they hurt, you hurt. When they laugh, you laugh. When they play video games for three hours and don't text you back, you BLOW THEM UP.......oh wait, no, that one just applies to me. LOL. Anywho, you get the point. Unfortunately, this step is usually where people STOP. But this is not the end. We've just gotten to the "puppy love" stage. Remember love is not all fun and games and unicorn's rainbow farts. No. There is much more to come...
So to step three!
3. The Sudden (and continued*) Realization
Here's a news flash for you. Whoever you think you love, THEY ARE NOT PERFECT! In fact they probably suck. They have just as many flaws as you do and maybe more. They will NEVER be everything you wanted the love of your life to be. They will NEVER say everything you think they should say or do everything you think they should do. And if you think they are perfect, JUST WAIT. You will eventually see that they have flaws as well. The sad thing about this stage is that most couple do not make it past step two. Here's an example:
- Jane and Joe meet.
- Jane thinks Joe is adorable! Joe thinks Jane is fine! (step 1)
- They begin a relationship and become emotionally attached to each other. (What most people call "falling in love.") (step 2)
- They become so emotionally attached that they think they are "in love." Then they start to see the flaws... Jane says something hurtful, or Joe reveals a bad habit he has, or Jane stops treating Joe properly. Jane tells Joe, "Joe you aren't the guy you were when we first started dating. You've changed! What happened to you?" (step 3)
This step comes for EVERY couple.
If your's hasn't come yet, please, please, PLEASE, do not get married to this person until you have your sudden realization.
*Please note the word continued in step three. Yes, it's what you're thinking. It gets worse. The flaws you see when you're dating will double or triple when you are married. And once again, no, the person didn't change. It is a never-ending process of you learning about this person. The closer you get the more flaws you will see. We're all human, folks
And finally step four:
4. The BIG Decision
Now it's time to see if your love is true. You have finally seen the flaws. You've gotten down to the nasty, gooey, puss-filled, center of his/her rotten heart. (Okay, maybe not that bad.) Now ask yourself. ARE THEY WORTH IT?? Is it worth your time to be with this person and put up with their nasty stinking feet, or their bad attitude, or their nicotene habit? If the answer is yes, and you can accept all their flaws and love them in spite of it, then *drum roll* Dum-Da-Da-Da! You're In LOVE!!! Lucky you! You care enough about an individual to deal with ALL their dirty laundry! (; If the answer is no, and you realize that the flaws are too bad and that you need to find someone with a different set of flaws that you can better deal with, then Bum-Bum-Bum...You Are Not In Love! Maybe you and this person can still be friends especially if you still care about them. Just be careful with the friends option because if they love you regardless of your flaws then it will be MUCH harder for them to be "just friends" with you. So now you know! Test your love against these four steps to know for sure that your love is true.(; Just remember, they have to love you as equally as you love them for your relationship to be a success. Few things hurt worse than love unrequited.
