How to know you are in love?

Everyone defines love differently and can take hours and hours explaining their specific view. I think that the majority of people will agree that the couples who have been together through thick and thin are really in love. This does not mean that the couples who have only gone through good times are not in love...they are also in love. The one thing is that people tend to be in different stages of love. So even if you have been with somebody for years you may or may not be in the initial stages of love. Love has different stages and seasons and when you reach a point where you are selfless and ready to make any kind of reasonable sacrifice for your significant other then you are in love.

Loving and Liking Someone

I remember having a conversation with someone a couple of days ago about the complexity of loving and liking someone. In a nutshell, we both realized that love is more giving and selfless while on the other hand you might also end up liking someone for selfish reasons. For example you might like someone a lot because they make you laugh and  then think that you necessarily love that person. Just because your desire to laugh is satisfied and you feel good does not mean that you genuinely love that person. You can also really like or enjoy the company of someone but it doesn't mean that you love them. Loving goes beyond liking and involves making the conscious decision to always make sometimes difficult choices that in the end will be the best for you and your significant others in the good and bad times. Thus, in mathematical terms sometimes the following are true:
Liking  =  Selfishness
Loving =  Selflessness
Just think about it  today.