It's great, falling in love is wonderful, staying in a bad relationship too long is the mistake.

What is "in love"? Your question reminds me of a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
When in love, we love in many ways because we are all different. When truly in love, oh my, the emotions are felt within each cell and overwhelm everything. The Brownings shared a timeless love.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height,
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life: --- and, if god choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

And so it is that when in love, love overwhelms us with emotions we can't explain. Many people fear this sense of overwhelming and do not submit to it. However, there are those of us who tread lightly while letting love take affect. Love is intoxicating.

To be totally honest....I don’t actually know what love means...let alone is....there are so many feelings to one meaning and 99.9% of everyone will not feel the same feelings as their partner....I suppose one could gage whether ones in love....if a love chart was invented....I.e. a series of statements from a pole of a number of people sharing their meaning of love....and with that....creating a chart....and on seeing the chart...if one could answer or say yes....to a number of statements....would then determine if u were in fact in love....lol

Yup!

Believing it and experiencing it, those are two different things.
I have experienced that kind of love unlike any other.
I had a husband that passed away 4 years ago.
We were married for many years , and the anticipation of seeing him throughout the day kept the butterflies going.

Even if I was swamped at work I would get a random phone call saying to me, "hey sexy I will see you when you get home, I love you".

At work I would get random flowers for no reason. Reason was that he still cared to show me that I was loved.

He would show up for a random lunch date with a gift.

Every single day he would tell me how sexy or beautiful I was. If a woman feels beautiful she feels better about herself.

Oh and the sex was pure bliss and erotic.

Our marriage worked because we put each other first. Most people are too selfish.
We were kind and loving to each other.

The things that you do to get a woman/man,
those are things that one should continue to do.

We spoiled each other rotten in every which way.
I have been truly loved and cherished.

yes, I believe in lust plus empathy and a few other things create the transient feeling of being "in love" as opposed to simply feeling love for someone. I don't believe it lasts or conquers all though.

It's not what we tend to think it is, or want it to be. It's not nearly as important as some societies maintain. It's not something necessary that everyone needs for life to be complete.

I've had butterflies aplenty, and thought I was "in love" several times, but in hindsight I rather think I was undergoing initial chemical infatuations. Nothing wrong with that. Problems arise when you have all kinds of expectations tied up in it is longevity...

Ken Keyes Jr.'s "Living Love way" talks about being "in love" with everyone, all the time. Its a different formulation: an attitude, an intention. More interesting to me.

Sometimes automatic, other times uniquely different from my own experience. Like getting clubbed in the head, but the soft smell of dessert filling the room. Sometimes I want to run but it’s all I see. That’s the difference for me!

Chemical reaction in the brain. It fades.