Love often starts with infatuation (see the signs), but once the relationship matures to another level... it may turn into love! The reason you may want to know the difference is before making any major life commitments, you want to make sure it's love, not infatuation.

• Your partner feels like your best friend.
  
• You feel like you are so lucky and blessed to have them!
  
• You truly care about the other person and their thoughts and feelings.
  
• You are willing to compromise with them.
  
• You know they care about you more than anything, and you care about them more than anything, too.
  
• The relationship is more than 6 months - 1 year old.
  
• You may not think the person is always perfect -- you may dislike them at times-- but you still love them.
  
• You don't have to spend every minute with them, you spend a good balance of leisure time together and apart.
  
  
• Your friends and family think you make a good couple.
  
• You care deeply about the other person's thoughts, feeling, morals, and beliefs.
  
• You consider the other person when making future plans.
  
• You may fight, but you work to resolve your differences.
  
• You enjoy their company and spending time with them even if you aren't doing anything special.
  
• You no longer notice other members of the opposite sex in a romantic way.
  
• You don't want to change or control the other person.
  
• You will put your wishes and desires aside to make the other person happy.
  
• You want and respect their opinion, and talk to them if something is bugging you.
  
• You know you could never cheat on them, and don't worry that they'd cheat on you.
  
• You feel emotionally intimate with the other person and share your thoughts and feelings.
  
• You find creative ways to handle your differences or compromise.
  
• Even when you disagree, you both can understand the other person's thoughts and ideas.
  
• The idea of commiting to them doesn't scare you.
  
• You feel that they help make you a better person, and you make them better, too.
  
• You feel your personalities work well together.
  
• You feel no desire to date other people to see what it's like.
  
• You no longer see yourself as an individual, but as part of a couple.
  
• You feel good about your relationship, not worried that it won't work out.
  
• You feel that the other person genuinely cares for you and wants the best for you.
  
• You both work to help each other through problems.
  
• You put the other person first, and always listen to them.
  
• You are willing to wait for sex because you want to make sure it's special.
  
• You have no desire to have sex with anyone else.
  
• You have discussed your plans and dreams, how many kids you want, where you want to live, your religious beliefs, morals, etc. with them because you plan on making them a permanent part of your life.

Love is more mature than infatuation because with love, you have commitment and trust. You also have a deep knowledge of the other person's ideas, hopes, futures, and fears. Because love takes getting to know the other person, and emotional intimacy, it generally develops over a longer time than infatuation. It is said that infatuation starts quickly, but love grows slowly. In fact, the way many people fall in love begins with infatuation that matures into love.

To see a comparison of love and infatuation, see here.

Some things someone in love might say:

• I never thought they were the cutest person, but now that I love them I can see what I was missing.
• It's not always fun, but we both work on making our relationship work.
• I feel like I'm in love with my best friend.
• Even if we fight I know we still love each other and can resolve our differences.
• They are always there for me no matter what.
• I feel so happy to have found them.
• I can share everything with them.

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