The word “Infatuation” seems pretty harmless at first, doesn’t it? And initially, it is! Rather, its sort of an escape from reality. Infatuation is a feeling which is usually short-lived and in maximum cases, it is based purely on physical attraction. We are sometimes smitten with a totally attractive stranger and we get all shy, confused, anxious, frustrated and in the worst case scenario, humiliated when things go wrong. Infatuation is quite common among teenagers and its okay as long it doesn’t affect us deeply and we learn how to deal with it in a proper way.
Now what really causes infatuation and how does it happen?
Simple! We see a person who we find attractive and there we are, totally whipped! They take up our minds, we try to stalk them on every social media possible, going through each and every detail, memorizing their birthday date a million times, checking their likes and dislikes and not to mention, feeling all warm and giddy inside (while blushing) when we realize some of our choices are the same.
Meanwhile, it isn’t like our heart says otherwise. One look from that person and it amplifies everything to that point where even thinking of a destination for the wedding doesn’t seem silly. We exaggerate every little moment that takes place, be it a glance or something, and it feels like maybe, there’s the slightest chance that they feel the same thing for us. But when we get the reality check, we feel crushed.
What is the difference between love and infatuation?
There is a very thin line between infatuation and love and sometimes we forget the difference.
Love doesn’t happen to someone immediately. It takes time to grow. Love happens after getting to know a person entirely, how their eyes light up when they see things they like, how each of their expressions indicates their different feelings, how passionate they are about something, their hobbies and all the little things which come together to make them how they are. Love happens after being with that person in their happiest days but also being beside them at their worst time. Love is finding that person beautiful not only because of their looks but it's about finding that person beautiful inside out. Love is being happy when we see them happy. Love can last for eternity if it's with the right person.
Infatuation is usually short-lived and is somewhat an illusion. Infatuation is initially based on physical attraction. We build up a scenario which is perfect and we aren’t mentally ready to see any flaws of the person we are infatuated with. Every piece of imagination is perfect and whenever we come across any flaw of that person, we start liking them a little less. Moreover, infatuation is also based on lust. We don’t usually get infatuated with a person because of their qualities which make them who they are. In fact, we hardly know the person who we get infatuated with. It's all the physique that does the talking.