Whenever you think about a relationship, a crush or maybe someone you're just interested in have you ever wondered why? Why do you like them, what catches your eye and keeps your attention? I think a huge part of answering questions like that is looking at the difference between love and infatuation.

The first thing you should look at is how those two can make you feel. Usually, when you are in love it brings you confidence, you feel as if you are on top of the world. While with infatuation you feel insecure and like there is something you need to prove or fight for.

When you are infatuated with someone usually it is an emotional roller coaster. This causes your emotions to constantly be up and down and usually leaving you second-guessing or confused. Usually, you are going back and forth from extreme happiness to very sad. When you are in love it takes time to get there. Falling in love isn't an overnight process. It takes time to develop. You are learning to trust your significant other trying to eliminate any fear because you are seeking to feel safe and secure.

How would you characterize love and infatuation? Well, infatuation is usually a lack of trust or loyalty, a lack of commitment, a lack of reciprocity which then leads to feeling insecure. Infatuation usually makes you always feel like something must be wrong! When it comes to love that intimacy, commitment and security make you very nervous at first. You don't want to get your heart broken. But once you achieve that level of comfort and trust in all those things it leaves you feeling confident not only in yourself, but in the bond you have created.

The most important distinction to me regards communication. It is impossible to have a healthy relationship if communication is flawed. When you are in love with someone you communicate and negotiate appropriately. What this means is that you're able to have a discussion without it turning into a screaming match. This may require a lot of selflessness and an assertive politeness, but it's worth it. This is how a real relationship should function. With infatuation usually, a lot of communication is avoided. You don't want to risk irritating the other person so you just keep your feelings to yourself. You're always on edge that you have something to lose, that if you do get in a fight emotions are running so high that screaming is the only way to get your thoughts out.

When you are in love, every day is an exciting and new experience. You have that butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling and have endless excitement about what's to come. But most importantly you are CONFIDENT in yourself, your significant other, and your relationship. When you are infatuated with someone you usually are obsessed with them. By that I mean you equally feel desire and fear towards that person. You want to be with them, but you fear of losing them and fear usually takes over as the dominant emotion.

I think looking at the difference between infatuation and fear is a really big key in determining if this is a relationship you want to be in. Do you feel excited and confident, or in constant fear of what you may lose?

Regardless if you are in a relationship, pursuing one or just have a crush take the time to run through how you feel about it and see where it matches up. If you feel like you are just infatuated maybe you will reconsider that partnership. Or if you feel like it lines up with love and you are not ready for that in your life, then you'll know this is getting way too serious. Either way, I think that comparing the two is really eye-opening to any relationship.

When it comes to love versus infatuation, which one do you relate most to?