“Every night, every day”, warbled Suggs from The Madness back in 1981, “I know that it’s you I need, to take the blues away.” Although far from being a proto-Byron of romantic poetry, he has a point, as do any singers that have sung since time immemorial. Love is an all-conquering force that doesn’t take any prisoners.
The thing is, not experiencing it for a while can dull our perceptions of what love feels like. How do you know when you’ve crossed into this most thrilling territory with a fairly recent partner? Let us explain a few signs you could be missing…
Strange reminders
The office clock is wearing you down, slugging from minute to minute. You’ve barely had any coffee and your eyes are ringed in blotched purple. The boss throws a stack of invoices on your desk, asks you to process them lickety-split.
Hell on earth? Not quite, because you’ve stumbled over someone with a hilarious name, or seen a new hairdo over the next cubicle that looks vaguely atomic. You can’t wait to tell your beau when you meet them, and that one thought – their face, their smile – brings the day back on an even keel.
Entertainment on a whim
There’s a whole hospitality industry built around the idea that ‘happy couples’ want to be alone together, utterly, for weeks at a time. How many can actually stand that amount of one person’s company? Well, a fair few probably go through the motions, but we mean genuinely able to keep each other amused and aroused for long stretches of isolation.
Lovebirds aren’t afraid of just having themselves to play with. You don’t need drinks, a movie, a weekend at a fancy cottage to be able to say you enjoy each other. If the signs are right, you’ll be happy merely to sit and say whatever comes to mind, and last through silences without feeling an awkward atom in your body.
Mutual inspiration
Dating gurus often claim that opposites attract, and that’s true for the short term, at least in terms of complementary interests. We don’t want everyone to be into exactly the same pursuits as we are, but it does help massively if a lover can share our enthusiasm for something and get us excited about their perspective.
Whether you have a hobby that needs some creative juice, or you wish you’d travelled more than you have, the person you love should be a catalyst for bettering your behaviour. If listening to them, and thinking about them constantly, inspires you to reach beyond what you normally do: great, you’ve caught your perfect fish, someone who gives air to your ambitions and wants you to thrive as much as you can.
That word – ‘thrive’ – can arguably distil what makes this word so special. How to tell you’re in love? It glazes every part of you, making you a more generous soul, both to yourself and whoever you encounter. We sincerely hope that any daters forging a new romance leap on these signals when they arise, although don’t jump the gun; love truly does thrive when we don’t expect it.
Speaking of unexpectedness, have you rolled the dice with an online dating profile yet? FreeAndSingle is a hotspot for local singles, so join now to light that magic spark, and don’t say we didn’t warn you about falling head over heels!