4 Reasons Love At First Sight Probably Is What's Actually Happening To You Right Now... Kind Of

Haters will say there's no such thing as love at first sight, but I've always been one to disagree. If love at first sight wasn't real, then describing seeing your lover for the first time as having a lightning bolt hit you wouldn't be such a tired, old cliché. If love at first sight wasn't real, then Sappho wouldn't have written her odes to Aphrodite. If so many people, throughout centuries and centuries, have experienced love at first sight, then empirical evidence suggests that it's real, right?

But nobody has ever thought that love lasts forever, and that's why falling in love at first sight doesn't necessarily mean it's going to stick. It's important to remember that longevity shouldn't be the only measure of love. A relationship that lasts three weeks can be just as important to your personal growth as some 30-year marriages.

Love at first sight is a kind of infatuation — and infatuation is its own stage of love, which can last for years. On the other side of infatuation is either a breakup or a deep and lasting relationship. If your love at first sight leads to a relationship, then understand that the way you see the person will change. There's love at first sight, and then, there's what love looks like a little close up.

Here's how you know it's love at first sight.

1. Being Around Them Makes You Feel Pure Bliss

Love releases a powerful rush of chemicals that floods your brain and elevates your feelings of pleasure. When you experience love at first sight, you might question whether you are only physically attracted to the person. Unlike certain loves and intimacies you have to work on, physical chemistry is an immediate quality of love at first sight. You might be so compatible in bed that you don't want to do anything else.

All of this is fine as long as you are aware that what is happening in your head is real, but also involves a lot of chemicals that are out of your control. Manage your relationship to the situation, and make sure that your feelings have balance to them. Love at first sight makes it all too easy to burn through a relationship, and you probably want this one to continue to give you warmth.

2. You Feel Withdrawal When You Are Not Around Them

Post-coital sadness is definitely a thing, because when you've experienced such an emotional high after being around your lover, then returning to the ground can feel more like a crash-landing than being set upon your feet. Love at first sight can make you want to be around your love all of the time. You have to be smarter than that.

Don't allow your withdrawal symptoms to control your behavior. It's important to spend some time apart from your new love interest. Use the space to take care of your household tasks and nurture your friendships. This will ensure that you aren't placing too much pressure on the relationship and putting all your eggs in one basket. Love at first sight is definitely a risky kind of love.

3. Everything They Do Seems Perfect

When you fall in love at first sight, then the person seems absolutely flawless to you. Even their shortcomings seem like adorable quirks. As long as you know that this is an illusion of infatuation, you'll be fine. Don't forget that your love interest is human, and don't be surprised when they eventually disappoint you. Love at first sight puts a person on a pedestal. Try to make sure they don't shatter when they finally fall.

4. You Know How They Feel About You

Unreciprocated love is also a kind of love, but it has to do more with the parts of yourself you need to heal than it does the object of your affection. And love at first sight is never an excuse to pursue someone who doesn't want to be with you. That isn't love — that's obsession.

But usually, when you're dealing with true love at first sight, the feelings go both ways. Your love interest might not have had the same intense reaction when they met you, but they definitely develop feelings for you.

When it's love at first sight, you want to be with the person, not because it will prove anything to you, but because you simply want to be near them. Being around them makes your life brighter. In one another's company, both of you shine.

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