"By the power of Jeebus, I'm happy!"

[Nomurah!]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"]Eep. Usually, I don't post threads like these. But I felt like I had to tell the whole world. I've fallen for one of the most amazing girls I've ever met. And and and... Ah. She loves Star Wars, art, hardcore music, and [SIZE="4"]THE MISADVENTURES OF FLAPJACK![/SIZE]. Other than our common interests, we're so deeply connected... it's crazy. I've been infactuated with one too many girls. So, going into this, I didn't expect anything different. But I knew she was different after only a little bit of knowing her. I'm in love. And I believe she's fallen for me too. It's amazing. =] So with that statement, I have to ask you guys... I'm always seeing the usual "I need help with this relationship" threads, but I don't see many like this. Have you ever been in love? Are you in love? And you know. Tell me of this love. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Raiha]

[quote name='Whoa, Mann'][SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"]So with that statement, I have to ask you guys... I'm always seeing the usual "I need help with this relationship" threads, but I don't see many like this. Have you ever been in love? Are you in love? And you know. Tell me of this love. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I've been in love. I've been out of love. I've been in lust [which I can probably say is what you're in] and I've been out of lust. She's something new. Something new is a nice fuzzy feeling that only lasts for up to three years. Which to you may feel like an eternity, but heck. It's hard to know if you love someone right away. When that feeling stretches on and into the longer and longer periods of time, then you'll know.

And even then, we had a thread about this recently. So pretty much review C.S. Lewis's views on love and you'll be in. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Mr. Blonde]

[quote name='Raiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I've been in love. I've been out of love. I've been in lust [which I can probably say is what you're in] and I've been out of lust. She's something new. Something new is a nice fuzzy feeling that only lasts for up to three years. Which to you may feel like an eternity, but heck. It's hard to know if you love someone right away. When that feeling stretches on and into the longer and longer periods of time, then you'll know.
[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Is that the scientific time span on lust, 3 years?

It's a little rash to say the man's not in love simply because he hasn't known the girl for long. I understand where you're coming from, but still.

People try too hard to classify love into this great magical feeling. Love is just a word, and we often put too much stock in the word and not enough in the emotion.

[B]Whoa, Mann[/B], no one is going to be able to tell you if you're in love. Try not to think of it as "love" but as that feeling you've been missing your whole life. Lust, love... they're all just words invented by man to describe variations of emotions that we don't understand, and never will. Whatever you have, hold onto it for as long as you can, and never be afraid to show that person how much you care. Good luck, buddy.

[DeLarge]

[SIZE=1]This is a weird coincidence - recently, I found someone who made me feel the exact same way. I'd been having a really bad time of it - health problems, friendships breaking down, lousy job, everyone I really cared about being miles away, and as a result I was becoming thoroughly miserable. I became cynical and full of bile and hatred for things around me.

But then I met her and everything turned upside down - it sounds really cheesy, but I noticed a complete change in myself - my friends and I returned to being as close as we'd ever been, I got over the fact that people had moved away, my job seemed to be going better, and even my general health began to improve. We haven't known each other that long, but I've never felt a connection with anyone like I have with her. Unlike you, there's a lot of things that we don't have in common - we don't like a lot of the same music, for example - but now more than ever I'm a believer in the idea of opposites attracting. Best thing of all, she totally appreciates my goofy sense of humour, which a lot of people don't.

However, I don't consider myself to be "in love" with her, not yet at any rate. We're really close, yeah, and I care about her a huge amount, as she does me, but I've always thought that love is something that grows over time. I think right now that it's just a reaction to being attracted to each other, but with a start as positive as ours has been, and as yours has been, then it won't be long before the love begins to grow.

But in answer to your other question, I have been in love before on a couple of occasions - the first was unrequited, but it turned out great as the girl is now one of my best friends, and I couldn't ask for more. The second was supposedly reciprocal, but she ended the relationship over something trivial before it could really start to go anywhere.

I was bitter about that second one for a long time, and lost faith in the opposite sex, but it's kinda been restored now.

I wish you all the best in your burgeoning relationship, Mr Mann.
[/SIZE]

[Godot]

the only thing love has caused me to do is harden my heart, its thrown me into a pit of darkness cursed to fall for eternity <(///_-)>

[GANTZ]

I guess it really doesn't need to be said but....
Damn, what a downer. I have experienced this
emotion once (Currently) and am having a great
time with it. So much fun!

[Claire]

[FONT="Arial"]Love is a wonderful feeling when it's working in your favor.

For the longest time I didn't see the point in high school relationships. The people involved in them didn't foresee marriage in their future. I was never interested in kissing and beyond, so I never wanted anyone to satisfy teenage hormonal lust or what have you. The last time I had a boyfriend I was 15, and even then I was against the whole idea of having one.

I kinda wanted to be alone, unless I could find someone who was as uninterested in physical love as I was.

Then I had a dream that changed everything, as dreams are wont to do. I had a boyfriend, who wasn't represented by anyone I know in real life, and my subconscious generated feelings of happiness. When I woke up, I was sad that I was alone.

Now, I'm still pretty much asexual on the physical front. But I've accepted some things, and for the first time ever, I'm in love with someone. For a while I struggled with my emotions, hoping they would figure it out without me telling them. I didn't want to get over it, despite my perpetual depression, I just wanted it to be okay my way. I might not have started feeling that way if this person hadn't hinted that maybe they already did towards me, but during those months of misery I always hoped that my hunch was right.

One night I couldn't handle my sadness anymore, and I told them how I felt in a slightly less cryptic way than I had been doing all that time (but to be fair, they were doing the same thing). They understood, and responded, and suddenly everything made sense. I felt happy again, even though the person couldn't act on anything. Knowing I had been right was what I wanted.

Some things happened in between to make me upset again, and then more things happened to fix everything. Now I'm verging on the happiest I've ever been.[/FONT]

[Drizzt Do'urden]

I was victim of lust so many times I couldn't count (not sexual lust) but that's the label I have given to a lot of my past relationships. They are all fine, but then you realize that there was only one or two things (mostly looks).

With my fiancee I realized that there were countless thigns that i love about her, and many things I don't. But what i think makes it love is the fact that those shortcomings can be overlooked without even trying. I'm not saying you ever get over them, they're still shortcomings and they still can aggrevate you, but you can overlook them.

In my opinion that's when its love. Before you start noticing ANY shortcomings i think its still lust.

Of course that's my opinion and I'm sure there are some people that disagree.

[Nomurah!]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"]I've noticed shortcomings in our relationship, definitely. But they don't bother me. She drinks, she's been on drugs, her brother's a drug dealer (these actually would be the only things I don't love about her), but it just... doesn't bother me. Because, being with her is just good enough for me.

I can assure you, however, I'm not in lust. I'm not merely infatuated with this girl either. I'm falling in love with her so heavily.. ah. It's very exciting too, to meet someone that would I get me worked up enough, just over getting to know them on a personal level. And when I told her I was falling for her, she happily told me she wanted to be with me. Everything is going great for me right now.

Right now, I guess we're a cutesy state of a relationship, but I don't doubt that our relationship will get serious in time. So uh. Yeah. Looking forward to spending much much much time with this girl. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Vicky]

[size=1]I'm in love with someone.

I'm also in love with the necklace I'm wearing.

My orange socks.

And my new sunglasses.

I'm not a big fan of love at all. I think it's just something from our imagination that we came up with and people can have incredibly strong feelings for someone (the [i]strongest[/i] they've had) but I'd be reluctant to call it love. I'm not saying 'haha no one loves', I'm just saying that's how I see it and that's what it'll probably be like for me. I perhaps love my current girlfriend more than my socks, but that's how much I fling the word around - it doesn't mean anything to me even if you give me all that philosophical bullcrap. I have a connection with my girlfriend that I don't have with my socks but, despite how many times I'll say it, there are only feelings there and not this silly word.

And, to defend myself, when I say I could love a woman but never a man, I mean the connection. Love is just a really broad term and doesn't mean anything to me, so little that I'll use it and fling it around willingly.

I've also been put off by all the stupid myspace bulletin about "this is what happens when someone truly loves you!!1!11!".[/size]