If you ask 50 people what they think about love, you will get 50, possibly more, highly different answers. The ancient Greeks had 5 different words for love. In my opinion, that is too few.
Today, most people use only two definitions of love. They love a food/movie/activity, or they are “in love” with someone. I have a friend who has been “in love” numerous times, but I haven’t really believed her yet. Not because she fought with her boyfriend, because everybody has disagreements sometimes, but because either she or her boyfriend changed their behavior when they were around each other. I mean to say, that they acted differently when their significant other wasn’t around. If you want to change a person, then you are not in love with them. You are in love with something that you think they could be. If someone loves you, then you shouldn’t feel like you have to change for them.
Obviously, there is going to be some compromise if you are working together with anyone. But if you love someone you have to accept their core being. It is an incredibly difficult thing to do, but if you settle for something less, there will be a strain in your relationship.
On one last note, do not stop hanging out with your friends just because you have a boyfriend/girlfriend. You need to keep up the other relationships in your life because they can help you to work through things if you have a fight, and everyone needs to hang out with more than one person. Being with only one person all of the time or most of the time will push you away from them, at least in my experience.
