Love is a universal feeling that, believe it or not, everyone experiences at one point in their lifetime. I know you’re sitting there thinking “I’ve never experienced love before, I don’t date.”

Here’s the thing, yes love is most commonly associated with dating as that is what dating is all about is falling in love, but don’t you love your mom? Your family or friends? Love is found in so many ways other than dating, which is how I’m going to explain that time doesn’t measure love, it tests love.

Say you were with someone for four years. It was a good relationship, you weren’t unhappy, but you weren’t in love either. The relationship ends and you find yourself in a new one after recovering from the last. You guys have been together for two months and you already feel more emotionally attached to that person than you did with the four-year relationship.

Here’s why; the connection you have with someone isn’t determined by how long you’ve been with them. That connection happens generally right away. What happens over time is you get to know that person.

You learn their fears, what makes them who they are. You either continue to love them and grow that connection or you realize that while the connection is strong, it wasn’t meant to be.

You hear people all the time, “you just started dating, you can’t know if you love them yet.” But don’t we fall in love with dogs on the street walking by, all the time? Some may think to themselves "That’s an awful comparison, they’re just a dog."

Here’s a better one, have you ever found an artist, whether it be a singer or a band, and immediately loved them and their music? You’ve never met that person before, but you love them. It may not be the exact same scenario but the situations are the same.

We can love things very easily, we don’t have a hard time finding love. It’s when time tests that love that everyone freaks out. Just because you’re with someone for a short time, doesn’t dismiss your feelings for that person.

Don’t let someone define your emotions because of the time clock of which you’ve been together. You know how you feel better than anyone else. And if you do truly feel like you love someone, tell them. If you don’t risk telling them, you might lose them and it’ll be too late.