The Difference Between Love And Like - Relationship Advice

What's the difference between love and like? It's hard to recognize but after reading this article, you will know for sure whether you love or like someone.

By Mikayla Bonham
The Difference Between Love And Like - Relationship Advice

Love Is Often Sought After

The difference between like and love is a question that many people will ask at least once in their lifetime. They see that people will go to great lengths to to achieve this feeling, however, some may not know why or what it actually feels like to be in love. They'll see people spend money to join websites that promise to find their perfect match and fall in love or...perhaps they'll watch a television show or movie that features two characters who go to crazy lengths to keep that love strong and honest. But what is love exactly? What does love feel like?

What Is love?

Love is an intense feeling of attachment to someone. It is the feeling of caring which brings a willingness to do anything to make that person happy and well. Love is often described as feeling butterflies in your stomach when you see and touch someone. While that does happens on occasion, it's more accurate to say that love is a feeling of comfort when you do those things. But where does love begin? Love usually starts to grow when you meet a person for the first time. You may start out as friends or it may even begin as a crush but after a few months of getting to know that person, you'll notice that your feelings are changing and growing. Your friends might ask you if you two are falling in love and this might be the moment that you realize that you actually are starting to love them. You'll spend more time together and the butterflies in your stomach that you had when you first met have now turned into a feeling of comfort. This will be the person you run to when you are sad or angry. Love isn't something that appears out of nowhere, love is grown. It's the feeling of finally finding your home.

What is Like?

Another popular question when it comes to relationships is, "How does it feel to somebody?" The feeling of liking someone is quite a strong feeling. It's as if you're being drawn in by this person. You may stare at them or fantasize about even just talking to them. You don't need to really know the person to like them. You could like how they look, the way you've seen them walk or even like the way they talk. It's like being infatuated with that person. Infatuation is an intense passion or admiration towards this person and it is often short lived though. Having a "crush" on a person can be described as liking them. You could sit next to them in class or be in the next cubical over at work. It could even be your neighbor. Once you like somebody, you may try everything you can think of to be around them. Find something you have in common or pretend that you like something you know he does. You might be too afraid or you might even be too shy to try to hang out with him or to even ask ask him out on a date. This usually doesn't usually lead to anything more than being friends and in cases where it does happen,they end in one of two ways. One being that you may start to fall in love with this person and the other being that you realize this person is not what you thought and may possibly enjoy him as a friend in your life. In the second scenario it's likely nothing more will happen in this relationship other than friendship.

What Is The Difference Between The Two?

The difference between liking and loving somebody is that the difference between the two is often hard to understand. You could feel such strong feelings for a person that it seems like you're head over heels in love with them and months later feeling nothing at all. Like and love can feel like the exact same thing in a lot of situations. However there are many differences between them. Like and love are both intense feelings of attraction, however when you're in love with someone it's a feeling that lasts. It doesn't just dwindle down to nothing within a few months of knowing or meeting the person whereas liking somebody can often disappear within a few days. When you deeply love somebody, you have known them for awhile, have gotten to know who they are as a person, you know their likes and dislikes and even what makes them tick. You don't really need to know a person to like them. You could see a cute guy at school and like the way his hair frames his face and how he talks to you or even smiled at you. You might immediately like him without even knowing his name. Love is a feeling that lasts and love continues to grow as many relationships get deeper. The feeling of love doesn't change unless it's growing more and deeper. You accept them for their flaws when you are in love whereas when you like somebody, the smallest things can change it. You could find out that they enjoy figure skating or play in a band and your feelings for them could change in an instant. Like is best described as a short lived infatuation with that person. Often times, many relationships begin with the feeling of liking each other and these feelings might later develop into love. However, many relationships also never get to the phase of falling in love. The couple like each other for a few weeks to possibly even months and then one or both fall out of like with the other and the relationship ends there. The main difference between like and love is the time felt with the feeling. Love is a long term feeling and like may be just the opppsite.

What Do We Do After We Know?

Like and love are very similar,however, it's the length of time that you've known the person and how well you know know them that makes the difference. So what do you do after you've figured out which one you are feeling? There isn't much to do. Liking somebody is a feeling that will either grow into something bigger or dwindle away as time passes. That doesn't make it less exciting to have though. Take that feeling you are experiencing and see where it leads you. That could be asking that person out out on a date or having your first conversation with them. You won't know if this feeling you're having will transform into love. The best thing to do is chase the feeling you're having and see where it take you.

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