27 Everyday Things That Happen When You Finally Find True, Genuine Love

1. Maintaining eye contact when you’re talking to each other, even if it sometimes makes you feel vulnerable or exposed.

2. Appreciating the beauty of falling slowly, even though it’s not as instantly gratifying as swiping through a dating app.

3. Telling them how they make you feel – face to face instead of through a carefully crafted text message.

4. Leaving them a hand-written note before you leave for work, which can feel so surprisingly rare and foreign at first.

5. Saying “I love you” the first time without knowing for sure that they’ll say it back.

6. Taking the time to send your significant other an actual postcard while you’re on a trip without them.

7. Calling them up in the middle of the day, just to say hello.

8. Eating a home-cooked meal together at the kitchen table, rather than heading right towards the couch and Netfilx.

9. When they put your favorite music on in the car, especially when you know they don’t really care for it.

10. Making a conscious effort to pay attention to the little things that you usually miss, like learning how much ice they like in their drink and which blanket is their favorite one to use while bingewatching a show.

11. Tracking down one of their favorite toys from childhood and surprising them with it, using the bizarrely powerful source that is the internet.

12. Writing them an actual love letter, even if it makes you feel out of your element at first.

13. Filling up their gas.

14. Ordering a book on Amazon that they’ve mentioned they want to read.

15. Or reading one of their new favorite books yourself so that they have someone to talk to about it.

16. Ignoring your phone while you’re sharing a meal together.  

17. Trying to make their life easier even just with small actions, like remembering to record their favorite shows or to throw a few things in the laundry for them when they’re running out of clean clothes.

18. Spending time together in silence.

19. Picking up their favorite breakfast when you know they’re going to wake up with a bad hangover.

20. Sending a funny email to their work inbox when you know they have a stressful day ahead and they need a good laugh.

21. Making a sincere effort to understand their point of view when you don’t agree with them, especially when it’s related to politics or social issues.

22. Saying sorry when you need to, even if you really don’t want to.

23. Saving an episode of something you’re both super excited to watch until you can see it together.

24. Feeling like you can cry or be upset in front of each other, always knowing there won’t be any judgment.

25. Noticing that you’ve both begun to unintentionally use each other’s phrases and favorite expressions.

26. Realizing that with every decision you make, no matter how small, you’re always thinking about how it will affect them.

27. Putting all of your screens away and talking to each other until you both fall asleep.