Love is a fickle thing. Falling love could come out of anywhere and at any time. It could be love at first sight. You could fall in love with someone after the first date. It may even take longer than that as a lifelong friendship turns into a relationship.

Falling in love is definitely the easy part. There is no escaping chemistry. It’s actually kind of fun to get to know a person on an intimate level. He or she is one of the few people you can actually be vulnerable with.

Although falling in love is an instinct, staying in love is a choice. It’s a decision to stay with your partner that needs to be agreed upon every day. It’s very easy to be enamored with all the things you love about a person, but how easy is it to then look at the same person when you realize that’s only a fraction of who they actually are. It’s sad to say, but after the honeymoon phase, love is just two flawed individuals trying to find ways to keep falling in love.

What happens when you run out of things to say? Run out of things to do? What happens when he starts doing things that get on your nerves, or she doesn’t dress the same way she used to when you guys go out? How about always forgets important dates like an anniversary? As time goes on, we realize that we’ve fallen in love with someone who is imperfect. The true definition of love is loving those imperfections just as much as you love your partner’s virtues.

Love is saying I see all of you, not just the parts that I like. It’s loving the good, the bad, and the ugly. You love the things he/she presents and the things he/she tries to hide. This type of love is a choice. A choice that you have to make every day of a relationship.