Love is the one thing most of us actively seek. We spend hours searching, worrying, and crying over love. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful feeling — but is it the best? Not really. Love is fleeting and rarely unconditional, no matter how great it feels in the moment.
We have love in our lives everyday, yet we never seem completely happy with it. Why is that? Maybe it’s because love isn’t the end all, be all it’s cracked up to be. With that in mind, here are 13 feelings that are even better than being in love:
- Achieving a life-long dream. This applies any major goal, really. The exhilaration of working hard and seeing your effort pay off is a feeling like no other. No one can take that away from you.
- Eating amazing food. I’m serious here. Eating your favorite foods makes you feel happy and peaceful. Some studies have even found eating chocolate is better than love. Besides, food doesn’t break your heart or judge you if you put on a few extra pounds.
- Curling up in bed. After a long day, nothing feels better than curling up under a warm, soft blanket. Grab a good book or turn on your favorite show and love doesn’t seem so great anymore. Plus, you get the whole bed to yourself.
- Being put first. OK, back to something more serious. Having someone put you first in their life feels even better than having their love. I’m not saying anyone should put you first 24/7, but seeing them compromise for you means even more than having them say those three little words.
- Earning someone’s respect. It’s hard to earn someone’s respect, but when you do, it feels incredible. It boosts your self-esteem and confidence. Basically, it helps validate you at whatever you’re doing. Hell, love doesn’t even come with respect half the time.
- Full and complete trust. Being able to trust someone or being trusted gives you a nice warm, fuzzy feeling deep down inside. You know, kind of like love, but better. This kind of trust is so rare, it’s going to trump love every single time.
- True forgiveness. Whether you’re the one being forgiven or you’re forgiving someone else, a huge weight lifts off your shoulders through the act of forgiveness. You feel stronger and happier, and stress melts away. How is that not better?
- Compassion. Treating others well and being treated well in return is what the world needs most. Love is great, but it’s not going to solve the world’s problems. Compassion would solve quite a few. When you’re treated with compassion or you’re compassionate to someone else, you kind of feel like the Grinch when his heart grew three sizes.
- Feeling happy with your life. Nothing feels quite as wonderful as feeling happy with your life at any given moment. With everything that goes on in our lives, being able to say that you’re truly happy with where you are is an accomplishment in itself. Some might think you need love to be happy, but that’s just a myth.
- Confidence. It might sound cocky, but confidence does feel better than love. How many of you have known someone who was in love, but felt insecure? Kind of taints the whole love thing. Confidence feels great on its own and makes other feelings better, too.
- Helping others. If you’ve ever volunteered or even put someone else first, you know what I mean. Seeing your actions make someone else happy fills you with warmth. It’s like its own special kind of high. You might feel this sometimes with love, but you feel it all the time when you’re helping others.
- Excelling at something new. Trepidation fills you as you attempt something new. The moment you realize you’re good at it, you’re on cloud nine. It’s like unlocking a secret part of yourself. You suddenly have a new world to explore. It’s amazing and makes love seem a little less glorious.
- Being true to yourself. Peer pressure is a real thing and it doesn’t just affect teens. We’re all subjected to it on a regular basis. Being able to stay true to yourself and not give in makes you feel great. You feel more confident and happy. You don’t care as much about what others think. You’re truly happy being yourself and that is always better than love.
