Are you in love? And what you should do about it?

First, you need to understand the difference between infatuation, lust, and love. This love is not the family love or the friend love, where you love someone who is related to you or close to you, this is the strongly emotional love that comes when finding a partner to share points of your life. What follows are loose definitions of infatuation, lust and love. 

• Infatuation: this is when you worship someone to the point where you cannot concentrate on anything else. There are various levels of infatuation, but anytime something is monopolizing all your time, it cannot be healthy. 
• Lust: this is when you want someone just sexually. Teens go through a lot of sexual changes and sometimes you will be attracted to someone sexually, but don't let it be the only reason you are attracted. 
• Love: this is when both parties feel they are attracted to each other and are willing to work hard to be together. Being in love is different for most every teen in the world. However, if you are in love you should be interested in the other teen's feelings and enjoy doing many different activities together. There are usually strong feelings attached with love, you may feel connected, spiritual, joy, and other like emotions.

A good test of love is to see the teen you are attracted to in many different situations. Do physical activities like hiking and swimming. Work together on a service project. Try out new foods together. Go shopping. Work on homework together. These and similar ideas can help you find out if you are in love and if the teen is worthy of your love.

Dating is a good step in determining if you are in love. If you feel pressure or unsafe, stop immediately. However if you have fun and find our that you both share many interests and hobbies, keep dating.

So if you are love, keep trust in your relationship. Talk about things that bother you, and discuss how your relationship is progressing. If you get into fights, keep communication open so as to overcome any frustrations or misunderstandings. Ask a lot of questions to find out as much as you can. Keep a journal as you someday may want to relive these moments as well as maybe see what you did right and wrong within the relationships. Spend time together to better get to know each other, but also take time for yourself so you can work to make yourself better. Above all, enjoy being in love, stay away things that make your relationship complicated and work hard together to make your relationship strong.

Are You in Love Sources:

• Ezine Articles, Mark Else, "Teen Dating Tips," [online].
• Momsandkids.org, Nickeyea, "Healthy Relationships," [online].
• Teen Dating: Dating for Beginners, "Teen Dating and Teen Love," [online].