Love Is...

1. Respect 

2. Reminding your partner how much they mean to you

3. Little gestures of kindness

4. Trusting each other

5. Staying with each other through the good times and bad times

6. Open and honest communication 

7. Finding a way to compromise if a problem/disagreement can't be resolved 

8. Unconditional and all-accepting

*Now I want to verify the very concept of respect. Self-respect is always a good thing to have, but there's a fine line between that and respecting your partner.  A lot of people leave relationships for different reasons, and I do realize that most humans tend to be selfish, but we can't just think of ourselves entirely when trying to end a relationship. It's never a bad idea to ask and listen to your partner's opinions on the matter regardless of what they said or did to hurt you. I believe that it's always a good idea to gain perspective to better realize and understand why people do what they do in relationships, because everybody has their own way of showing/expressing their love. 

*I also want to point out that relationships are never perfect. It takes work on both ends. When you give your heart to someone and promise to be there for them, you NEED to uphold that promise. I believe that relationships are investments and should be taken seriously. And while I understand that no one's perfect and people make mistakes, I personally believe that we can always find a reason to forgive the worst. Of course, most people don't like staying with someone who keeps repeating their mistakes or is just thoughtless in their actions. People like that need a wake-up call of their own, but I don't want to stray too far off topic here. The main point here is to realize that you can't expect people to change; people have to be willing to change themselves first.