How do i know if i really love someone

There is nothing more exciting than the feeling of falling for someone. The butterflies in your stomach, the longing to need to talk or be with them, and the unexpected need to find new ways to impress them. 

When you start to fall for someone, the emotions can get truly exceptional, and there’s a feeling that can be very hard to express. 

And even though it might feel like you are in love, it doesn’t always turn out to be love. But how to know if you love someone or are simply infatuated? Keep reading to find out. 

Why is it important to know if you are in love

Just like any other emotion or feeling, realizing if you are in love with someone or not is essential. 

It’s never simple being in a situation of not knowing if you love someone or not. 

You may be in a circumstance where somebody has pronounced their adoration for you; however, you don’t know whether you are genuinely prepared to respond to those emotions. 

Or maybe the person you adore is about to move into a relationship with someone else, and you need to express your feelings before it’s past the point of no return. 

Yet, how would you realize that what you feel is genuine, lasting, and valid? 

Love is significantly more than other sentiments we experience in our lives. 

It is something we shape our lives around. We move the world over for and start families for. 

Hence, it becomes important to understand if what you feel is actually love or some version of lust or infatuation.

Also Try: How to Know if You're in Love Quiz

How do you know if you love someone: 30 signs

How do you know when you love someone? Am I really in love? Below are ways to know you are in love:

1. You keep on staring at them

When you find yourself staring at them for a long time, then it could be a sign that you are falling in love with that person.

Usually, eye contact will mean that you are being fixated on something.

If you are looking at someone several times, you should know that you have found a lover.

Studies have shown that partners who find themselves staring at each other have a romantic connection. And, that is true. You can’t be staring at someone when you don’t have some feelings for them.

2. You wake up and go to bed with thoughts of them

How do you know you love someone?

When you are in love, you often think about the person you care for, but more than that, they are your first thought in the morning and last thought before going to bed. 

Furthermore, when you have love feelings for someone, they are also the first person you think of sharing the news with.

Related Reading: 15 Tips on How to Make Someone Fall in Love With You

3. You feel high

How to tell if you love someone?

Sometimes it can be tricky to know whether you love someone or not. That’s why most people will get stuck with the question, how do you know you love someone.

In most cases, when you are falling in love with someone, you’ll feel high, and that’s normal for everyone.

A study trying to assess the similarities between drug addiction and romantic love found that there are many similarities between the early stage of romantic love and drug addiction.

Now, if you don’t know why you have been acting the way you are acting, this is the reason – you are falling in love.

4. You think about someone too often

When you love somebody, no doubt, you will not stop thinking about them.

The reason why you always think about your new lover is that your brain releases phenylethylamine – which is sometimes known as the “love drug.”

Phenylethylamine is a hormone that aids in creating the feeling between you and your partner.

If you have never known this, now you should. Phenylethylamine is also found in the chocolate you love. 

So, if you consume chocolate daily, then it could be the reason why you can’t stop thinking about your new partner.

Related Reading: 6 Effective Ways to Stop Thinking About Someone

5. You always want to see them happy

In a real sense, love should be an equal partnership. When you already love someone, you’ll feel like you want them to be happy every time.

And, maybe if you didn’t know, compassionate love is a sign that you are getting into a healthy relationship. This means that you can do whatever it takes to make sure your partner is happy at all times.

Therefore, if you find yourself preparing dinner on behalf of your partner when they are busy with her assignments, then you must know you are falling in love.

6. You are stressed of late

In most cases, love will be associated with fuzzy feelings, but once in a while, you will find yourself stressed.

When you are in love, your brain releases a hormone called cortisol, which makes you feel stressed.

Therefore, if you realize that you are freaking out of late, they know it’s because of your new relationship. But don’t quit just because of that. Stress is normal in a relationship.

7. You feel some jealousy

Being in love with someone can invite some jealousy, although you might not be a jealous person in general. Being in love with someone makes you want to have them for yourself exclusively, so a bit of jealousy is natural, as long as it is not obsessing.

8. You prioritize them over other activities

Spending time with your loved one is a reward in itself, so you start prioritizing them over other activities. 

When you spend time with them, your stomach says, “I’m in love with this feeling,” and craves for more, pushing you to rearrange your plans and put them on top.

9. You are falling in love with new things

If you really love someone, you will find yourself doing things you were never used to doing. For example, if you did not love watching football, your new partner can influence you to start watching.

If you realize that you are giving life a different approach, you don’t have to worry because you are just falling in love.

10. Time flies when you are with them

Have you spent the weekend together, and you woke up Monday morning thinking how did two days fly by? 

When we are around the person we are in love with, we are so involved in the moment, making hours simply go by without noticing.

Related Reading: How About Spending Time Together on Holidays Instead of Spending Money?

11. You empathize with them

You know you really love someone when you’re empathizing and going out of your way to help your partner. 

Doing things for them comes easy because you want them to feel good, and you can sense their distress.

12. You are changing for the better

Most people say, ‘I think I’m in love ‘when their other half inspires them to become a better version of themselves. 

This means you are motivated to change because you want to, although they accept you the way you are.

Related Reading: 5 Signs Your Relationship Is Changing for the Better

13. You love their quirks

All people have unique characteristics. So, when you fall in love with someone, you will realize you have picked a few characteristics that make them unique, and that’s normal.

You’ll start feeling like you want to imitate how they talk, how they walk, and probably how they crack jokes.

Such things keep a relationship going. Sure, they may not seem serious, but they are detrimental to your relationship.

14. You imagine a future together

The moment when most people realize and acknowledge ‘I think I’m in love ‘is when they notice making plans for a future together and choosing the names of children secretly. 

So, how do you know you love someone? 

To answer that, ask yourself, have you started to, and to what extent, you imagine your future together.

15. You crave physical closeness

if you want to make sure you are in love before coming out with “I think I’m in love,” study your need for physical touch with your partner. 

Although we enjoy hugging and being close to people we love, like friends and family, when in love, the feeling of craving bodily contact is different. 

It consumes you, and you look for any opportunity to be intimate with the person of your affection.

Also, watch the following TED talk where Dr. Terri Orbuch a professor of sociology at Oakland University and a research professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan discusses signals to distinguish between lust and love, and how to reignite that lustful desire in loving long-term relationships.

16. Being with them feels easy

Any relationship comes with its own set of struggles and arguments. There is no way around it. 

However, when in love, the priority is the relationship, not your pride. 

Therefore, although you might bicker at times, your relationship doesn’t seem hard to maintain, and you enjoy being a part of it.

17. You want to spend maximum time with them

When you fall in love, one of the greatest answers to how to know if you love someone is when you want to spend plenty of time with them, and it never seems enough. It’s not necessary that you have solid plans of what to do when you both are together but just having them around feels enough.

No matter what mood you are in, their company is always welcome.

18. You wish their happiness

Do you know what it feels like loving someone? 

Well, another key sign of how to know if you love someone is when you really wish for their happiness. You wish to make them feel good all the time. No matter if their actions are not always right, you do not wish ill on them.

Related Reading: 15 Signs of Love at First Sight: Is It Love or Attraction?

19. You don’t hold grudges

One of the signs you love someone is when you don’t hold grudges against them or blame them for anything wrong that happened to you. You are forgiving and patient and choose to think rationally when it comes to them.

Related Reading: How Holding Grudges Affect Relationships and Ways to Let Go

20. You are okay being yourself in front of them

You feel comfortable being your weird self in front of the person. Whether it’s humming your favorite song despite being a bad singer or cracking bad jokes, you are okay doing random stuff without any hesitation.

21. You feel the urge to say ‘I love you’

You want to say ‘i love you’ to the person, and you are unable to control yourself. Whether or not you already confessed your love, I love you remains at the tip of your tongue.

Related Reading: 200 Ways to Say “I Love You”

22. You feel ready for commitment

If you wish to know how to know if you love someone, you must try to gauge your readiness for commitment. People are mostly scared of commitment and think twice before treading that path. They want to be fully sure that commitment is the right thing to do and if they are fully ready for this big decision.

So, if you love someone, commitment doesn’t scare you. You feel completely ready for the plunge.

23. You feel their pain

How to know if you love someone?

You are able to sense their sadness and have a lot of empathy towards them. You try to solve their issues because you can’t see them in pain.

This could also lead to you doing beyond your capacity to help them get out of their pain but you want to do that happily. 

24. You behave affectionately around them

No matter the kind of personality you have, you behave extra lovingly around them. Your personality softens in front of them. So, if you wonder how do you know if you love someone, check your change in the way you behave. All thanks to the love hormone, oxytocin that gives you this spike of attraction and love.

25. You are awaiting their texts

You are glued to your phone most of the time because you keep awaiting their texts, or are continuously busy on the phone chatting with them. If you do this and feel anxious for that one text or call, this is the answer to how to know if you love someone.

26. You feel safe

Our bodies have a way of recognizing that sense of security. So, if you feel safe and vulnerable, it’s because of your body releasing oxytocin and vasopressin that lets you have a feeling of long-lasting love.

In such situations, your inner self knows the safe space and allows you to open up to the person.

27. You feel adventurous

How to know if you love someone when you have always played safe and taken things slowly and steadily in life?

It’s when you start feeling adventurous. When you fall in love, you want to be adventurous together and learn more about them through shared experiences and challenges. You are not scared of wearing your least favorite colors or going on the most adventurous rides. You are ready to add that novelty.

Related Reading: 5 Ways to Navigate Your Adventurous Relationship

28. Their opinion matters

Usually, when the relationship is casual, the opinion of the other person hardly affects our life and mostly, we don’t let it affect our lives. However, it’s not the same thing when things are serious.

With this person, you involve them in making big plans and are ready to welcome their viewpoint because they are important to you and you value their opinion.

29. Almost everything reminds you of them

No matter what you do and how busy you are, almost everything around you reminds you of them. If you are having coffee, you will think about having a coffee with them. If you are busy with friends, you will think how happy you feel around them. From any random color to a song, you will associate everything with them.

30. You feel comfortable making sacrifices

You are ready to make adjustments for them and a few sacrifices to make them happy doesn’t really bother you or feels like a burden. You are okay taking care of them and making them feel happy with your slight compromises. 

Wrap up

Is the question, how do you know if you’re in love, still giving you problems? Knowing whether you are falling in love with another person can be challenging, but you can tell are you in love with all the signs above. 

In the end, just work up the courage and if you love someone, tell them.