There are many definitions of love, I prefer to define love as a positive emotion and an outlook towards someone or something with a state of mind where we are happy and emotionally satisfied, this could be in a relationship between two individuals who respect and value each other for what they are.

When we fall in love, there are some some changes that occur to the way we think and act.

Here are some ways we can tell when a person is in love:

1. In the early stages of meeting someone, we find that we are happy when they are around and there is a sense of positivity, nothing can go wrong and everything is right with the world.
2. The feeling of love is similar to holding two live wires and generating sparks, our body reacts the same way when we are in love. Our senses become alert in the presence of our loved ones which makes it easier to develop a sense of friendship and caring which brings us emotionally closer together.
3. When you are in love, you will find that your heart beats faster, this is similar in effect to when you are working out and your heart has to pump blood quickly.
4. It is interesting to note that being in love helps to keep your blood pressure in control, research has proved that spending time time with your partner helps to keep you in good health.
5. Being affectionate and displaying your love for your partner by hugging and kissing is a good thing, it helps one to feel relaxed and build up trust for the other person. Every culture has its own norms when it comes to public displays of affection, one must remember to respect others and being in love is not an excuse for going over the top and being too affectionate in public areas.
6. Studies have shown that when people are in love, it has a positive psychological effect on the brain as it is viewed as a positive and rewarding activity. When you are in love, you tend to forget you pain and suffering and are more likely to have an optimistic outlook towards life.
7. When you are in love and spend time with your partner, it helps to keep away feeling of being isolated and depression, which is common in today's world, it is ironic that the presence of social media which has the ability to bring us together, has had the opposite effect and has made people more individualistic and focusing too much on themselves.

Being in love can have some unintended consequences on our way of thinking such as:

Spending too much time on social media sites and keeping track of your partners activities, this obsession is dangerous and many relationships have been destroyed because of this.

Feelings of mistrust and suspicion are common, it happens all the time but it must not come in the way of having a good relationship with the one that you love.

There are arguments in every relationship, when you find yourself arguing with your partner, you need to resist the urge to blame your partner for the misunderstanding and try to resolve the problem peacefully.

To conclude, being in love is a two way relationship that involves give and take, we need to treat our partner with care, respect and understanding, this is what makes love special.