Attraction, Lust, Idolization, Attachment, Bonding, these are the different stages of a relation. But when does true love come into existence? Psychologists have shown it takes between 90 seconds and 4 minutes to decide if you fancy someone. With an irresistible cocktail of chemicals, our brain entices our heart to fall in love.

But some or the other time, our heart asks our brain, “Am I in love?”

I thought this is one question which almost everyone asks themselves. So why not list down answers to this question, “Am I in Love?” – YOU ARE IN LOVE:

• When you can’t stay away from him/her for more than a second and when you have a bad day as soon as you see their face you forget what was wrong and your heart skips a beat when they’re around.
• When you stare at them in class or office, you just cannot take your eyes off them.
• You daydream a lot. If you are in a bus, or in a meeting, or studying, all you can think about is your boyfriend/girlfriend. You also fantasize about them and dream about things you would do together.
• Every time you depart, your heart aches and you miss his/her voice, smile and presence.
• If another guy/girl flirts with you and you proudly say to them, “I have a boyfriend”.
• When you look into your lover’s eyes and you just keep staring, you just know really, deep down that he/she is the one, because you’d do anything in the world to make that person feel happy and special, and couldn’t imagine your life without them.
• When you are lay in their arms, you just you forget about the world and all the worries and pains.
• You feel shy and get nervous in front of them.
• You are never mad even if he/she gets frustrated or shouts at you.
• Even if you see your love every day at work or home, even if they sit right next to you, every time you turn around and you look at this person it feels like you’re seeing him/her for the first time, and that awesome feeling comes over you, and you just feel like the luckiest person in the world.
• You look at that person and you just feel like you can do anything, you feel inspired to be a better person, like you’re the king of the world.
• All the self doubts and issues disappear with just one look.
• Everything you do, you do thinking about that special someone. You sleep every night with his/her thoughts. You wake up and that person comes to your mind. You count the minutes to talk to them and see them. You smile just by thinking about them. All you want to do is be with them even if you are just sitting and not doing anything.
• The fights and disagreements do not make you stop loving them. It only strengthens the bonding.
• When you know that this is the person you want to spend the rest of your whole life with, you won’t have a second glance at another man/woman, you trust them in anything and everything.
• When everything is not about sex.
• When the feeling you have about him/her is unconditional, you just know in your heart that this person is for you – not because they are perfect – coz even their imperfections attract you to them.
• Your strength is their weakness and your weakness is their strength – and so you love complementing each other and making a great time in the race of life!
• You accept them for everything that they are, he/she can walk into the room and everything else disappears, they are always on your mind and in your heart, you can’t imagine being with anyone else and even if separated for long periods of time you are never even remotely tempted to go to someone else.
• You want to share everything that you love with that person and want him or her to share everything that they love with you. They become your world but you become a better individual because of that special person. If separated for long periods of time it’s not “out of sight out of mind” it is ‘ I can’t wait to see him/her again’ and it seems to last forever until you do. It is deep love and long-lasting love and can stand the test of time when nothing else does.

And lastly, if you are asking this question to yourself, you either doubt your feelings, in which case you aren’t truly in love, or you don’t know if the relationship will work out, which is an altogether different question, since being truly in love isn’t enough for a successful relationship, though it’s a good start, especially if by “you” you mean “both of you”.