Have you ever really been in love?

Love isn't what the movies makes it out to be. Love requires constant hard work, dedication and sacrifice from both the man and the woman.

Being in love is more than being infatuated with someone and having butterflies in your stomach. There is more than meeting someone for the first time and going on your first real date. There is also more to love than being on your best behavior.

Being in love means more than taking someone out on fancy dates. At the start, love requires compromises about where to go for dinner and what to have for dinner. It also means having to sometimes help your significant other with the bill for dinner, gratefully.

Love means being just as nervous as they are about meeting each other's family. But, there is also that sense of comfort, knowing that you have one another’s backs, no matter how each of your parents and family members feels. Whether someone approves of you and your significant other doesn’t matter.

The best behaviors of love such as a man holding the door at a restaurant, a car door or the apartment door. Even the man walking on the outside of the street and letting the woman be safer on the inner sidewalk. All of these things tend to fall off the wayside. It can be the same thing for a woman and a man. Maybe one person is a neat freak and the other isn’t all that neat. After a while, the one who enjoys neatness might speak out against any mess she or he sees.

The behavior of being in love falls off the wayside after a while as well and you are able to see the truth in both your significant other and in yourself. You have to learn what makes them tick, what they enjoy, what makes them pissed off, their hobbies, as well as their pet peeves. In tuning yourself in to what makes your significant other click, you also learn even more about yourself.

It can be a challenge to learn about your significant other and figure everything out about them. It can be challenging for your partner to figure you out as well. So give each other time and space when you both need it. It is also challenging to figure out when to ask the right questions as to what they want in the relationship.

Traits that people look for in a partner can include honesty, integrity, loyalty, security, humor and, above all, trust. Without trust, there are a lot of problems that can and will arise. If you don’t trust what the other is saying, then the relationship could be going sour.

Being in love means being willing to work through any and all problems in the relationship. Being in love also means growing a pair for both the man and the woman. It also means being willing to face any problems that they face, together, head on. It means telling each other how you feel, no matter how odd or uncomfortable it may be.

Being in love means helping them back to bed when they are sick in any way and making sure they are keeping food and fluids down and taking care of the house and or apartment while they rest. It means being willing to clean up after they get sick, even if you are grossed out. It means putting their health, safety and well-being before your own.

Love means being sick to your stomach with worry when you haven't heard from them in a day or so. It also means being sick to your stomach when they're not home at their usual time and getting dizzy with the fears and thinking constantly of what could have happened to them. Nearly everyone in a relationship has experienced the panicked state of wondering where their partner is, especially late at night. Then when they finally make it home safe, everything is alright again.

Being in love means more than having sex, kissing and making out. It means more than sharing the same bed and getting a dog. It means sharing the responsibility of running both of your lives as individuals and as a couple. It also means sharing the responsibilities of paying for and keeping up house or the apartment. It means sharing the weight of every aspect of your lives. It means sharing the responsibility with love and compromises.

Love requires sacrifice from each individual. Love means giving them the last sip of your soft drink, even though you're really thirsty. Love means getting up in the morning to make them breakfast, even when they didn't ask. Love means saving the last piece of cake for them even when you're craving it for a midnight snack.

Love means calling off work when someone on their side of the family has an emergency, that your significant other can’t face alone. It means being willing to go anywhere and everywhere, to make your significant other feel even somewhat OK after the loss or illness of their family member.

Love makes it feels like your bodies are connected in more ways than one. It means being just as nervous as they are for an interview that could put them in their next step of their career. After all, you're in this together.

Love means feeling emotions of the other person even when you aren't physically with them and vice versa. Love means you can be pretty close in guessing what the other is feeling whether you are there with them physically or not as well.

Love means being blunt with them when it is needed and expecting the same from them when it is needed for you. Love means telling them how you feel about the decisions they make and helping them make decisions. It also means they help you make the right decisions in your individual life as well. You support each other no matter what and you long to work together as a team.

Love means being unable to sleep when they're not next to you because you don't feel as safe or at peace. Love means wanting to snuggle up with them after a long hard day, and vice versa. It also means skipping the party scene to eat in and watch your favorite movies.

Love is one of the best and most intense emotions you can ever feel.

Love means wanting to get through every single obstacle, together. It means standing your ground no matter how hard things may get. It means learning about yourself and about your significant other. Love also means taking chances and risks, as well as listening to your heart, no matter where it takes you. If you find someone who treats you right in all aspects, never let them go!