> your previous love was just a make-believe love, a childish imitation that you mistook for the real thing––an honest mistake, because you had never felt the r

> your previous love was just a make-believe love, a childish imitation that you mistook for the real thing––an honest mistake, because you had never felt the real thing before? I'll share a personal story: I was burned by a "stuck in your head" "love". It was unrequited and I suffered a lot. I have since then read about infatuation, and am averse towards it. I'd much rather have a stable partner I can have fun with but also communicate, rather than the intense stomach-churning variant. The most important criterion I've found is that both partners in a relationship see the other as greater or equal to themselves. Satisfy that, and you get a long-lasting relationship, and you can stop chasing for the impossible ideal.