Being in love and loving someone are entirely different things. Sometimes the two can get so confused from one another, that you don’t really know where you stand anymore or where your significant other stands.

I’ve been in love once. And this is what I know.

I know that loving someone is appreciating their humor and liking the way they smile at you. Loving someone is liking the way it feels to be close to them, and feeling giddy when they kiss you. Loving someone is wanting to spend time with them as much as you can. Loving someone is missing them when they are gone.

I know that loving someone can hurt if they leave. It will make you cry at the drop of a hat when someone mentions their name. I know that when you love someone who decides they don’t want you in their life anymore, it is incredibly painful.

But being madly in love, being truly in love, is a whole different story.

I know that being in love feels like a high that will never end. It feels like you are walking on clouds, and stardust.

Being in love is when you let them have their space when they need it. It is appreciating their flaws and imperfections. It is loving them through their mistakes and their failures. Being in love is calling them up at 1 am because you are having a panic attack and they are the only one who can stop it.

Being in love is compromise.

It’s hard. It’s two people fighting to have a chance. It’s wanting a future and seeing that future together when you are with them. It’s sacrifice and it’s distance and it’s fights.

But here is the main difference between these two types of love. Being in love is worth it. It’s worth the pain and the heartache and the arguments. It’s worth the hard times. Because if you are in love with someone, you’ll still think that they are the best person on this earth. And you’ll know that you still want to be with them even when you hit rough patches.

When you love someone, you can forget the tiny details about them that made you smile. But when you’re in love? You’ll never forget those tiny things about them that makes them beautiful. You’ll never be able to erase them from your mind. 

When you loved someone, you’ll be able to find a new great love. You’ll be able to let go of the past. But when you’re in love and it had to end, you won’t be able to ever fully let them go. And you don’t think you will ever find a love like that again.

Being in love is worth all the hard work. And it’s worth it, even if it ends.

Because it’s the only kind of magic that we have. And it’s the only kind of magic that we’ll ever need.