It is said that love brings out the best and worst in a person, but there must a some middle ground too, right? Love doesn’t necessarily make us better or worse, sometimes it just turns us into versions of ourselves slightly to the left. Here are three ways in which love subtly changes us, without greatly impacting our lives.
Your beauty standards change
Have you ever been asked in the past what your type was? If so, did you always give the same answer? Though it is not always the case, in a lot of cases falling in love with someone can significantly influence what you find attractive in a person. Your type may become the spitting image of your lover, or at the very least certain key points of their appearance could well end up on the hypothetical list of things you look for in a partner. Your old preferences are still there, but they could never dream of surpassing the beauty of your loved one.
Sometimes, these changes can persist even after the end of a relationship. If your ex wore glasses (and you parted on amiable terms), then don’t be surprised if you see someone wearing a similar pair and you think to yourself that they’re kind of cute.
You try to appeal to your lover’s preferences
Just like your partner can have an effect on your taste, their taste can also have an effect on you. Do they like it when you dress a certain way? You’ll notice you’ll start leaning towards dressing like that more often than before. Does your partner likes a certain haircut? You’ll try to style your hair that way from that point on.
A lot of the time, these preferences don’t even matter all that much to them, they’ll love you all the same whether you change anything about your appearance or not. It’s okay if you want to have a little make-over, but never forget that your partner loves you for who you are and just because you don’t fit some ideal you think they may have in their mind they won’t think any less of you.
This doesn’t even have to be about things they find attractive in a partner. If you know your partner really likes something, you’ll try to get involved as well to make them happy. Be it a certain sport, a movie, a game, they won’t ask you to join in, but they’ll be sure to appreciate it when you put in the extra effort to please them.
Your personality softens somewhat
It may come as no surprise that we tend to give the person we love most in the whole world preferential treatment.
Are you easily annoyed? If someone did something that made you roll your eyes and your partner were to do the same thing, you’d be less likely to be bothered by it; depending on what it is, you might even find it endearing or amusing. Do you have a short temper? You’ll notice that you are more patient with your partner than with other people. Did your partner make a mistake? You’re more likely to just forgive and forget. Did you make a mistake? You’ll get the urge to make it up to them sooner than if you wronged any other person.
It’s not as noticeable if you were already a laid-back, easy-going person from the get-go, since then you’d be treating everyone the same way anyway, but otherwise? Prepare to have your heart melted.
Of course, there’s most likely so much more to talk about than just those three, but they’re not really brought up often. They’re a beautiful side effect of loving someone nonetheless, and for me that’s enough to find them fascinating. What about you? Did you also experience these three little changes, or did your love manifest in other ways?
