As I scroll down my news feeds on all of my social media, I tend to notice those couples who look like they have it all together. Picture after picture and status after status, they boast about how happy the other makes them. I have seen a lot of these couples in person and have noticed that they do not even know how to have a serious conversation.

This is because they are constantly told that love is movie dates, sex, and being able to laugh together. Media does not tell us to date our best friend, but to instead sleep with someone before genuinely getting to know their heart. Through movies and songs, we are often told that true love is being happy all the time, and always being able to please one another.

In order to truly love someone, you must know them. Lusting over a girl in a bikini on Instagram is not love. Thinking somebody is cute and funny is not loving them, but knowing how to talk them through their anxiety is. Loving someone means knowing that they have weaknesses and problems, but that you do too. Love is two imperfect people who fight and argue. It isn't just kissing and looking at the stars.

Being attracted to someone is not everything. If you can't understand one's heart and brain, it is not something worth pursuing. Because love is going to hurt. Truly loving someone means loving them more than needing them. It isn't the idea of having someone there, but missing somebody because being in their presence is what makes your heart full.

You will see their flaws as beautiful and unique, not as an annoying burden. You will never try to hurt them, and you will always put them first.