What falling in love feels like for one person may be different for another. Did you leave your stomach on the rollercoaster? Or did it go unnoticed?
Have you ever wondered what falling in love feels like? Is there an actual definition? A list of prerequisites or symptoms? Or, is it more of an individualized deal? [Read: What does true love feel like? The feelings that best describe love]
What happens to your brain when you fall in love?
It’s far more important to figure out what love feels like for you, rather than comparing it to someone else’s experience.
It might also be that you fall in love more than once in your lifetime and feel different on each occasion. It’s entirely possible. And it completely depends upon the relationship and the person concerned.
Experts have actually shown that your brain on love acts differently. It emits a huge amount of dopamine, AKA the feel-good chemical! This is why love feels so good, and it’s why people in love act like they are intoxicated. In a way, they are! [Read: What does it feel like to be in love? Like seeing in color]
Love vs Infatuation
We all know that falling in love doesn’t mean you’ve sealed the deal forever. People fall in and out of love all the time. Sometimes it is not love at all, but infatuation.
The difference is if the affection is returned and if the two parties are actually interested in each other on more than a physical level. [Read: What does it mean to be vulnerable? How you can learn to open up more]
How to tell if someone is falling in love with you
This one is easy. If you think someone is falling in love with you, ask yourself if you love them back.
If the answer is yes, then maybe you are falling in love with each other. If the answer is no, then that person is not in love with you but infatuated with you. [Read: Infatuation vs love – 20 ways you can tell the difference]
How long does it take to know you love someone?
As the old saying goes, all is fair in love and war. There are no rules for how long it can take a person to realize they love someone.
It might happen the moment that they meet, such as in cases of love at first sight. Or the relationship may take time to grow and root, blossoming into love later. It all depends on the people involved.
Can you fall in love with someone you haven’t met?
While it’s true that you can have very strong feelings for someone you haven’t met, it doesn’t quite meet the criteria for love. Love is a feeling that is shared and therefore returned.
If you haven’t met in person yet, you don’t truly know them enough to fall in love. The strong feelings someone might have for someone they haven’t met isn’t the same as love, and is closer to infatuation.
What does falling in love feel like?
The exact sensation is different for every person, but there are a few signs that what you are feeling is true love.
1. Hard to explain with words
One of the things that makes love so wonderful is its mystery. The feeling of love is hard to describe and unlike any other sensation in the world. [Read: Are you In Love? The clear signs you’re past lust & really in love]
2. You find excuses to be with them
The initial phases of love are so intoxicating that you will want to spend every waking second with the object of your desire. Love is all consuming, so you will find excuses to be with the object of your affection. This is one of the best ways of knowing what falling in love feels like
3. Love is emboldening
Love is invigorating. You feel suddenly that the sun shines brighter, the birds sing more sweetly and the whole world seems like a better place.
4. Being in love doesn’t mean being happy all the time
Love is complicated. It is more than just being happy all the time. Love is scary, exciting, and often very difficult. Falling in love can feel like a maelstrom of emotions happening all at once. [Read: Is your relationship stuck in a karmic cycle? Make a decision now]
5. Falling in love is both scary, exciting, and safe all at the same time
Love is scary and exciting, but also allows you to be vulnerable. You have met someone who you feel really understands you, and you are excited to go on this relationship journey together.
So have you fallen in love?
Perhaps the best way to figure out what falling love feels like is to pinpoint the signs that it’s actually happening.
1. Whenever something happens, you want to tell them about it first
If they’re the first person you think of whenever something good, bad, or funny happens in your life, that’s probably because you’re falling for them.
If you don’t really care about someone, they’re not likely to be the first person to pop into your head when you want to share something. But if they do, that’s a pretty solid sign. [Read: Steps to emotionally connect with someone and feel closer]
2. You’re full of date ideas since falling in love
Before you met this person, date ideas never crossed your mind. Now all you can think about is the fun things you are going to do with your new flame!
3. They become one of your life’s priorities
This doesn’t mean you should drop everything for someone when you start to fall in love. Nevertheless, it’s almost an automatic reflex that they become one of the most important things in your life and one of your priorities.
4. You want to know everything about them
Normally you wouldn’t care at all about someone’s story from their school days. But with your new love, you just can’t get enough. If you simply want to know everything there is to know about them, it’s a good sign that you are falling in love.
5. You smile whenever you think about them
If the very thought of them makes you smile and gives you those famous butterflies in your stomach, that’s probably what falling in love feels like to many people.
Of course, you can have butterflies when you’re not in love, but it’s a pretty common sign. [Read: Am I in love? 21 signs to decode that fuzzy feeling]
6. You have amazing sex
Nothing can shoot down a blossoming love like bad sex. While being sexually compatible isn’t the only thing that matters, it is still important. If you two can’t keep your hands off each other, you might be falling in love.
7. Their opinions are important to you
While you don’t have to agree with them, if their opinions are important and something you want to learn more about, it’s probably because you’re falling hard.
8. You’re not on the lookout for anyone else
When you first fall in love, it’s almost like you’re oblivious to other attractive people around you. That does fade as time goes on.
Also, it’s very normal to find other people attractive and still be in love with one person, but at the start, it’s pretty much tunnel vision. [Read: Commitment in a relationship – 27 ways to show it & feel secure in love]
9. You worry when they aren’t around
A sign of falling in love is a strong attachment. You may worry when the object of your desire is not around, and think about them constantly.
10. Falling in love makes you feel happy and light
For no particular reason other than the fact that you simply do, you just feel light and generally quite happy. The world is a bright place and even when you have a bad day, you’re uplifted by the very thought of them.
11. You daydream about them
You used to daydream about playing guitar in sold out arenas, or winning the lottery. Now you daydream about your new love and all the fun things that you are going to do together. That is definitely what falling in love feels like.
12. You feel their pain
If your beau is unwell, stressed out, or something bad has happened in their life, you feel an aching in your chest for them. You don’t want them to feel down, upset, or sick, you want them to always be smiling and happy. That’s what falling in love feels like. [Read: All the reasons why empathy is so important in your relationship]
13. Being around them makes you feel safe
Whilst you should certainly spend time with friends, family, and simply by yourself for balance, you’re likely to feel like simply being around this person makes you feel safe and at home. That’s because your heart feels like it is and you’re falling big time.
14. You see a future with them where things last forever
If you look at your future, you certainly feel like they’re going to be a part of it, there’s a reason for that.
Sure, we all dream and think about these things sometimes but if you really feel it in your gut, that’s because you’re in love. [Read: Is that love in the air? How to know if you’re falling in love]
15. They make you feel like a better person
Ultimately, falling in love is supposed to be a positive thing. They are supposed to make you happy and make you feel like a better person.
Everyone’s experience of what falling in love feels like is different
What falling in love feels like is always positive. Any variations on the theme aren’t going to stretch too far. Whether it’s a passionate, all-encompassing moment when you just know, a gentle and serene feeling, or it’s that roller coaster moment when your stomach remains at the top as you’re hurtling down. Love is love, and each moment is precious.
Every single person will experience what falling in love feels like slightly differently. Some people find it terrifying yet exhilarating at the same time. Others find it gentle and easy, while still others find it to be thrilling from the first moment.
It’s really interesting to have discussions with your friends and find out what falling in love feels like to them. It really gives you a sense of how wonderful this emotion is. How connecting your heart to someone else is truly special.
[Read: Limerence or love? How to tell the difference between the two]
If you have this experience, it doesn’t matter how you describe what love feels like, it matters that you were lucky enough to have it in your life.
