"i love you and i like you"

"i love you and i like you" -Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt (in their wedding vows), Parks and Recreation

you like someone.
you eventually grow to love that someone.
you still love that someone but you've fallen out of like.

in a relationship, the more time you spend with someone increases the probability that you love them. well, i would hope so anyway. if you don't see yourself in a situation where love is in the future, then you should probably get the eff out, right? you slowly learn their ins and outs, you know them better than they know themselves and you care a lot about them. but sometimes people stop caring for them. love lingers, but you don't necessarily like them anymore. does this make sense? i see a lot of people get comfortable in relationships and stay in them because they're scared of change or can't see that they're unhappy. or they love them. sure, you love them. but are you happy? do you even like the person anymore? or do you stick around because you just care about them?

"i love you and i like you" is equivalent of the saying "i love you and i'm in love with you." loving someone is great. but if you're going to spend the rest of your life with that person, being in love with them is just as important. yes, the butterflies might go away but you should still prefer to do/plan activities with that person, be attracted to that person (this doesn't necessarily mean superficially, folks), and that person should continue to stimulate you. whether it's in conversation, humor, or you see something in them that makes you want to be a better you. it could be anything so long as it keeps you in love or in like. and it's pretty f*cking important, i think. so please do yourself a favor and don't settle. i promise you i won't!

with that said, i wish you all luck and i hope that you find someone you can love and can be in love with.