8. Poop

I was the “other man” for a while. A girl I worked with was flirting pretty heavily with me and we went out, things were going pretty well until she told me she had a boyfriend.

I didn’t wanna be that guy so I said we couldn’t see each other, she goes on to explain how they are gonna breakup and he’s not good to her and all this. Temptation gave in and we kept dating for a while until one day she tells me about how she had a bad night.

Apparently she has this condition where it is really hard for her to poop and it causes her a lot of pain, the boyfriend helped her by pushing on her stomach while she pooped and it made her feel better somehow.

I was like whoa that boy loves you, I wouldn’t do that. I mean like I’d ask from the other side of the door if you needed anything from the pharmacy but I’d never push on your stomach while you pooped.

All of a sudden it got real to me that he loved her and I was a [jerk] for being the other man. You know you are in love when you will help them poop.

9. Second-self

When you start treating the other person like your “second-self.” Their needs and wants are just as, if not more, important than your own.

10. I miss you

A girl at work asked a bunch of us guys a question like this once. I think the exact question was, “When did you know you were going to marry your wife?”

My answer was, when I realized that my wife is the first woman I’ve dated that I actually missed when I wasn’t with them, that was when I knew I wanted to be with her forever. And then, after about a year of that feeling not changing our going away, I asked her to marry me.

Another guy I work with said he saw his wife destroy the fattest loaded burger, down her Texas cheese fries, and then gulp down her beer before ordering another. That was his clue. I guess love comes to each of us differently.

11. Just yesterday

I just found out I was truly in love yesterday afternoon. My S/O and I had been at the beach cabana all day enjoying a gorgeous South Florida day when naturally a cat 1 hurricane decided to form in the distance. We decided to wait out the storm instead of driving through it so we took showers and settled in for the wait.

I was sitting on the beach chair having a beer and it starts to drizzle. S/O starts yelling, its raining lets go lets go. I’m all like wtf are you talking about. Suddenly he says “I want to kiss you in the rain, come on get up” .. I started laughing really hard because I thought he was [messing] with me. He was sooo serious and grabbed me, pulled me out into the rain and started kissing me. He goes, “I remember the first time we ever kissed. It was on the bus on the way home from grad night 10 years ago. I’ll never forget that and I’ll always kiss you, forever in rain or shine!” It was ridiculous and amazingly sweet and at that moment I knew I was totally in love and completely happy! Like finally truly in love when I felt that feeling.

I guess you’ll know when something so silly and stupid happens that really reminds you that somewhere deep inside you can let go and let love in! (if that makes any sense at all)

12. Quiet trust

I thought I was in love a lot, growing up. I’d feel in love with people after talking to them for a day. I fell in love with everybody; I loved every girl I met and half the boys.

But as I got older, and got hurt, and hurt people, I realized that love isn’t that tingly feeling, or acting like an idiot, or wanting to be around someone all the time.

Love is a quiet trust, it is affection built out of familiarity. Love is really, really, really knowing someone — and wanting a life that has them in it, not because of what they can do, but because of what they are.

13. Hurt so deeply

I’d like to take a step back from the romanticist “love”. That’s a beautiful, passionate thing but those butterflies aren’t really love and the feeling does fade over time. Love is a far deeper, permeating feeling. It comes with subtlety and time and experience, rather than as a burst of emotion or sudden infatuation. Which is why, sadly, I think a lot of the Western world has trouble understanding it fully. And to be honest, despite being with my fiance for 5 years, I couldn’t tell you how to recognize it. It’s so quiet, yet fills your heart with rich undertone, you really have to feel it to know.

Not to get Freudian, but imagine how you feel love toward family. They may infuriate you, you may not like parts of them, but you would hurt so deeply if they were gone, you cherish the time you’ve had, and you just… Love them. That’s a lot like what romantic love is.

14. Love/Hate

I dunno but I’ll tell you about when I took my girlfriend out to eat for her birthday. It was a fondue place and I felt super out of my element. She loved every second of it. I hated the food. She loved it. I hated the drinks. She loved it. I hated the atmosphere. She loved it. But I loved every second of the evening because she did. I got such great joy from her experiencing her time that I had a great time too. I truly love this woman and me being happy because she was happy showed me.

15. Champagne

When after few minutes you were thinking about something else you suddenly remember about your SO and you get that feeling of a bottle of champagne popping in your chest and throat.

16. Fakey

A lot of these answers describe infatuation. Love – you just kind of know. You’re yourself. You don’t use one of those fakey “boyfriend/girlfriend voices”. When you’re completely vulnerable, yet comfortable.

I’ve been married 10 years this coming December. I know how I show love and how my wife shows me love. Forgiveness. Respect. Compromise. Love is holding her hair when she pukes. Not going to bed angry – talking and working through troubles and arguments no matter how difficult the topic. That is key to “waking up happy”. Not storming off in the middle of an argument. Accepting you’re wrong. Undying respect, no matter what. You may be super mad at the other person for something entirely their fault; never lose respect. Forgiveness. Compromise. Doing things the other person enjoys because they enjoy it, and doing it with a smile on your face. Taking risks together. Accepting there are just some things the other person won’t do. Compromise. Forgiveness. Respect.

Love is not chemical imbalances or physiological changes in your body. Love is the feeling and joy you get when doing things FOR the other person.