They’re not lying when they say love is a drug. That’s why we crave it. We crave it like we crave water. It’s an appetite we don’t even think about because we can’t turn it off.

You see, the desire for love is so addicting, that it actually has the same affect on our brains as drug use. Dopamine gives us pleasure, serotonin keeps us confident, and norepinephrine generates a high — and all are found in our brains when we’re falling in love and using drugs.

That’s why it’s so easy to fall without even realizing how you have fallen. Without even realizing the kind of love you have accepted and allowed into your heart. We dive into our relationships so fast and so eager that sometimes we end up blindsided by the small capacity of another’s affection

And in human fault, that’s what makes this four-letter word so dangerous. We confuse moments and feelings of chemistry and infatuation as a charade of what only a full heart can give.

The truth is, when you accept any bit of the love you can get, even when you know it’s not complete, you will never feel like you have enough. You end up hurt, confused, upset, and left with the feelings of loneliness, regardless of having someone. You will spend time asking yourself every possible question as to why it isn’t working, what you are doing wrong, and whether or not this is all of the love that someone can give you.

You’re not crazy. You’re instincts are right, and you’re only second guessing every action you make because that’s what happens when you accept half-hearted love. 

You would never go to a restaurant and accept only half of a meal, or go to work and accept only half of your paycheck, yet when it comes to something not so transactional and much more valuable as love, why do the standards change? Why do we get sucked into these connections where we give 100% of our heart while the other person can only offer us 50%?

I hope you are strong enough to walk away from these half-loves. I hope you love yourself fully, so you don’t need to compromise and lean on someone else’s love scraps.

Because love isn’t a hand out or a coupon or a 50% voucher. Love should be 100%. 

Love is one of the most passionate, intense feelings we will ever experience, and don’t confuse that by accepting something less than a full heart.