Knowing the difference between real love and infatuation can keep you from making a lifelong mistake.  Every year millions of couples commit themselves to love each other for the rest of eternity.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it's endured, and sometimes, disaster strikes.

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Are you "In Love"...or is it "infatuation." Take a look at our list of tips and see where you land.

INFATUATION 1

Infatuation comes out of nowhere and takes control of you. It typically lasts for a short period of time, but makes people do crazy things.  Infatuated people will leave their spouses and children, abandon their homes, and wake up a few months later wondering what happened after everything they truly cared about is gone.

REAL LOVE

Real love starts slowly. You have to know a person before you can truly love a person. True love takes time, and a long courtship is much better than a short one.  One year is better than 6 months...two years is better than one, and three years is better than two. Statistics show that those that give their relationship time to grow, the longer the courtship, the better the marriage.

INFATUATION 2

Your relationship will be shallow. You may not realize that your interests are much different, and you'll have constant ups and downs. Roots don't ever have time to take hold.

REAL LOVE

In real love your feelings are more "warm and tender" than the "hot and cold" feelings of infatuation. Real love grows slowly, and the roots grow deep.

INFATUATION 3

Your whole universe revolves around the other person...You may tend to ignore family and friends and be more irresponsible and disorganized. Things that are truly important to you are put to the side, so you can do or be with the one you are infatuated with.

REAL LOVE

If your love is real, then the one you love will bring out your best qualities and make you want to be a better person.

INFATUATION 4

What other people think about your "love"  is an important test. If you are infatuated, friends and family may not approve of your relationship. These people are typically much like you, and they KNOW you. You shouldn't ignore the advice of those that know you well, and care about your well being.

REAL LOVE

In real love, your family and friends will typically approve of the marriage. They will be able to see that inner part of you that shows them you are truly happy with this person.

INFATUATION 5

Infatuated couples do a lot of quarreling.  The longer it goes on, the more the quarreling continues and gets worse.

REAL LOVE

In real love there are disagreements, but real love can make it through.  Instead of saying things like me and I, it's more about we and us.  Real love couples think about being a unit, rather than two separate people.

INFATUATION 6

Couples will want to do things separately.  He may want to go out with the guys...She might want to go shopping with the girls.

REAL LOVE

Real Love couples want to do things together.  They may not want to go somewhere unless their significant other can go as well.

After going through the list, where do you think you fall? It can be difficult to know exactly where you fall, so weigh out the questions and rate your feelings on a scale of 1 being infatuation and 10 being Real Love.  You can find the full story and take the Real Love Clues test below.  How do you rank in finding true love?

 

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