Love is different for everyone, and knowing exactly how you feel in a developing relationship is very personal. For some, it's the classic "love at first sight" cliche. For others, it's something that just sort of happens as they spend more and more time with their special someone. But in these 14 stories from Reddit, the way these people realized they were in love is absolutely heartwarming:
1. We decided every day
"We met, [and] we hit it off. From then on we decided every day to be together. Our lives now are so intertwined, and our feelings run very deep. I'm not sure when it happened. It just did. I love that boy very much and can't really imagine a life without him."
2. When 'love' falls short
"When 'love' isn't a big enough word, it falls pathetically short of describing how much you feel, and how much this person means to you. When 'love' just sounds too trite, too small and too underwhelming compared to how special, how big and how overwhelming it feels that is when you know it's love."
3. "I've been looking for you"
"She gave me a quote which basically sums up my feelings on the matter: It was as if our souls met and I thought, 'Oh. There you are. I've been looking for you.'"
4. Her world became mine and mine became hers
"We put the other over ourselves. Over time I noticed that I would see things, be it on the street or at the store, and think 'Oh she would really like that,' or 'That's her favorite color.' Little things [like that] went from 'frozen pizza with cinnamon rolls' to 'her favorite thing in the world.' Her world became mine and mine became hers."
5. I would rather sacrifice parts of my life
"I knew it was love because I decided I would rather sacrifice parts of my life than be without her."
6. Phonecalls feel different
"When it started to feel wrong ending a phone call with just saying, 'goodbye'."
7. It's like a roadtrip
"I never actually 'knew' I was in love with her, it wasn't like a light switch going off. If you've driven the same route to a destination for years, one day you'll hop in the car, turn on the radio and start moving. Before you even realize what's happening, you're there. You can barely remember the drive, the cars you passed along the way, or the songs on the radio, but there you are. That's the only way I can think to explain it. I love my wife, I don't remember when I started loving her, but I can tell you when I'll stop loving her."
8. What do your thoughts say?
"I realized that I thought about her more than I thought about myself."
9. There wasn't a moment
"I don't think there was a singular event or moment where I can say for certain 'Yep, I love this guy'. It just overall feels...right to be with him. It's not like anything I've had with anyone else. It just feels different in a good way."
10. It isn't based on emotions
"The love I have for my wife isn't based on emotions or feelings or infatuation or even attraction because they're fleeting, changeable and unstable, and that's no basis for a relationship - she deserves better. Now don't get me wrong, those things were and are a big part of our relationship, but they're not the foundation. The foundation is the choice we both made to be wholly committed to each other for better or for worse. To put the other first over ourselves."
11. Because I choose to every day
"I choose her every day and she chooses me. Some days it's easy, most days I don't even have think about it. But some days it's hard, some days I have to let go of my pride, selfishness, ambition and vanity and put her first. But I know she will choose me and she knows I'll choose her."
12. I just knew
"One day I looked at her and just knew. It's the only way I can describe it."
13. It's like a secret
"I could barely keep from saying it, it was like having a secret I was dying to tell her."
14. I watched my smile
"I knew it was love when I realized that every time I talked about him my smile would get bigger and bigger, and my heart would get fuller and fuller every time I thought of him. But, I know it's love every day because even when we fight, or have our down days, I know that I will fight to keep him in my life and I know that he will fight to keep me in his. Knowing when isn't necessarily important, it's knowing that every day after that makes it love."
Comments have been edited lightly for punctuation and clarity.
