"Sometimes there is no next time, no timeouts and no second chances. Sometimes it's now or never." -Anonymous

People have repeatedly told me about the dangers of using the word "love" towards someone too soon. "You must wait a while before you know if you love someone." So with that said, what is the acceptable amount of time before you are allowed to use such an intense word? A week? A month? A year?

Let me explain my point of view. No two relationships are the same. You could be in a relationship for five years, y'all could break up, you could meet someone new and have stronger feelings for them in a matter of weeks than you ever did in the span of five years. My roommate made a very interesting point the other day. We were discussing the fact that I slipped up and said, "I love you," in a text message to my boyfriend. I wasn't freaking out about how he would react even though I explained that it was an accident. Then Paige tells me, "But you do love him. You're not in love with him, but you definitely love him. And he loves you." I argued with her about this. There was just no way I could love him already. Then I realized Paige was right. I do love him. I'll tell you why.

There are three stages to this thing in my opinion.

"I like you."

This is the stage where the flirting starts, common interests are noticed and maybe numbers are exchanged. You start getting to know one another and realize there is some type of connection.

"I love you."

This happens if you decided to act on the connection. You've taken the next step. You two are in a relationship. You more than like him, but you don't know what else to say. So you say nothing. If you find yourself fighting back these three words, you love him. Meaning you'd miss him if you didn't hear from him every day; your heart would hurt a little if you went a while without seeing him.

"I'm in love with you."

This is the whopper. You've fallen head over heels for the guy. He has you completely wrapped around his finger. Not only do you love him, but now you feel as if you can't live without him. We all know that you could, but you'd never want to. And that's what counts. This stage becomes more intense as time passes. You'll start to fall in love with more things about him.

So ... you more than like him, but you're not sure its love? No big deal. Everyone looks at things differently. That's the whole point in this article. People seem to think that just because they don't love quickly then no one else does either. That's not the case. There is no rule book on love. It's chaotic and completely consuming. There is no time frame. It's different for every person. There are even different types for every person. You could have a very mature love for someone and an extremely wild love for someone else. Don't let society's rules make you think that you're wrong for using the L word. Write your own rules. Thank you, Paige, for opening my eyes to that. Say how you feel! Don't hide it! You aren't promised another chance to express yourself.