That feeling. You know the one :-)

 Its existence can be traced back to the beginning of man. 

It can cause a rational person to become irrational, and is easily more addicting than any drug.

It's all that some people really want, and some of those people believe it's all we truly need. 

It's a feeling. 

Wait. Not just that.

A powerful force, and perhaps the most potent motivation there is.

From the movies to the air waves, radio waves, and even many of the books we read. 

What is it? 

                Love is a fairly broad topic, as there are several different types of love. There are, in fact, more than 20 definitions of love in the dictionary, and at least 6 different types of love as well as love languages. We won’t touch on all of those though. In this entry I’ll be sharing my general perspective of romantic love, common mistakes, and how to make it work.

                One thing that I think many of us can agree on is that at first it’s like an explosion of butterflies and happy feelings. A new romantic connection often times feels unreal, as if we can’t stop thinking about them and we long to spend every moment with them. Although cloud nine is wonderful, it's crucial to get our minds right, and here's why.

               The word 'trust' is often used in conjunction with the word 'foundation,' in the context of having a strong foundation to build upon. The beginning stages a lot like laying cement. A common mistake is viewing this person as flawless and incapable of error. It’s important to properly set the framework for the building—really get a grasp of who they are—before we lay that cement and let it dry.  That way when we discover how human they really are, it doesn’t throw off the building process. Genuine love takes a realistic look at that person, including their flaws, and accepts them as a whole. If you properly set a strong foundation the sky’s the limit!

Another tricky transition: when the romance establishes some consistency we sometimes find that even though they still make us smile and we’re still happy being with them, it becomes a bit less “manic” than it was when we were chomping at the bit to spend time with them and popcorn texting. I’ve heard some people become disillusioned under the assumption that in order for it to be love, it has to be a steady state of madness like it was in the beginning. I’m sure many of you have heard this before but I think it’s good to be reminded of this: the measure of romantic love is not the butterflies or brooding physical desire. This aspect is far too deep and I’d end up writing paragraphs after paragraph so I’ll just say that it’s important to do more than just be lovey-dovey and physical; it’s crucial to establish a friendship, in that cement phase, further affirming that your love them for them, not just for the chemical feelings they cause.

A common mistake, generally made just after the new love phase or long after a relationship has been established, is complacency.

So is there anything about that definition standing out?  If you read it closely, you'll notice complacency is the first stage taking things or people for granted. In general, I’m sure that all of us reading this have taken something for granted at some time or other. Electricity, running water, a bed to sleep in… here’s one: our parents. As kids, many of us became so used to having our parents around, unconditionally loving us and caring for us. Am I right? Can you remember times growing up where you were inconsiderate or treated your parents poorly and they loved you in spite of yourself? (Possibly during puberty/teenage years?) When we were younger we probably didn't think about it that way because in our parents would always be our parents.

 Bringing it back to context now, it’s dangerous to perceive that a significant other will always be there. Dangerous to assume that just because things seem good we can stop doing the little things that helped establish the love in the early going. Furthermore, (and this happens more often than we admit) it’s dangerous if it reaches a point where we’re having to ‘pencil in’ our significant other instead of prioritizing quality time with them. I’d like to challenge each and every one of you who has someone special: don’t get caught the traps of complacency. A strong relationship requires genuine, whole-hearted effort.  

….this entry ran longer than I intended it to, haha. Love can be a neverending topic!

That’s all for now! If you’ve read this far I thank you for your time J