How many times have you been in love?

[begin_within]

So far in your life. Me, 7.

[laylah]

1. Myself probably 3 nt

[Deja Q]

2. 3

[NanceGreggs]

3. Seven for me, as well.

Had you asked how many times I'd been in lust, it would have been a much higher number.

But really in love, yes, seven times.

[begin_within]

11. I don't think lust should count in this, because that's so easy to fall in and out of

[NanceGreggs]

24. I know ...

... but as I pondered the question posed, I had to really think about what had, looking back on it, been love - and what had simply been a temporary hunger of the soul.

That's something more easily (nay, honestly) answered in retrospect, rather than in the heat of particular moments now relegated to memory.

[begin_within]

28. I think it does count if it was just a temporary hunger of the soul,

and someone satisfied that soul hunger for a while, that's still being in love, if you ask me.

[NanceGreggs]

29. Not if the satisfaction of that hunger was self-serving ...

... especially if the meal came at the expense of someone else's happiness.

And it sometimes did.

That wasn't love - that was a quick fix for what ailed me. And the price to be paid was a lifetime of regret for leaving the tab on someone else's plate.

[begin_within]

45. Now that you've explained it that way, I would definitely agree.

[NanceGreggs]

48. There is little in this life I would un-do ...

... re-do, re-think, re-write ...

But the times I put my own temporary happiness above the long-term happiness of others is something I would change - if only I could.

[fizzgig]

4. honestly and truly in love?

i would have to say three times

[begin_within]

10. however you define "in love" for you

[Danger Mouse]

35. well...

hope i was one of three. :P

[MassLiberal]

5. Really in love...

Once.

Reader, I married him. ;-)

[mcctatas]

6. Five...

so far

[AlCzervik]

7. once

still am.

[bicentennial_baby]

8. Deux

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. ONE TIME ONLY --

I thought I was in love more times than that but, looking back on it, I was wrong. Hindsight being 20/20, I have only truly been in love ONCE in my whole life.

[Blue_In_AK]

12. Three or four, maybe more.

It depends on the definition.

[begin_within]

14. however you define it for yourself

[mokawanis]

13. 3 times

The first time was great while it lasted, 2nd was a real bummer, and the 3rd one I married.

[skygazer]

15. Hard to say but I think four

Hard to say because there were times I thought I was in love only to come to the conclusion that I had not really been. But sometimes that may be a safety mechanism, to keep yourself from hurting more than you might otherwise.

Four that I can say for sure. Kind of a neat question.

[Guava Jelly]

16. several

:)

[Lucian]

17. Never.

Not yet.

[Lindsey]

18. Five times. Twice with men (when I was younger) then three

times with women. I'm a lesbian but for some reason was really in love with two men as I was growing up. I married my childhood sweetheart (we starting going "steady" at 12 y.o.)divorced at 22, met another guy and fell madly in love. It didn't work out and before I knew it, even though I was still dating men, I became madly in lust with a woman I worked with; after that (I was around 26 y.o)I've been entirely with women.

[bigwillq]

19. Three

and then two others that were really strong emotions but not quite love, love.

[femmocrat]

20. Three.

I married No. 3.... third time's the charm, I guess! :)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

21. How many times?

Ah...let me count the ways...

Not sure...At least two...

It's an interesting question...

Why do you ask?

[Lincolngirl]

22. Have to say 2

Neither worked out, and I'm a bit scared now...to tell you the truth.

[hippywife]

23. I used to think it was

many times but turns out it was really only once. :hi:

[Catchawave]

25. The Once that's lasted 40+ years ?

Sigh. Hope you all find that ONE :grouphug:

[oedura]

26. Not ever.

Nobody's ever been interested.

[lightningandsnow]

27. Twice, maybe 3 times. And I'm not even 17 yet.

Either I'm mistaken, or I fall in love easily.

[JoePhilly]

33. Your post made me smile ... I have 2 young daughters ...

And before I start ... I have three kids ... a son and two young daughters ... and while my daughters are a little too young to date, I'm starting to think about what I'll say to them about relationships and love.

And your post made me think about it even more. Here goes ...

I've been happily married for about 20 years .... but here's some history to help you decide whether you are mistaken, fall to easily, or perhaps are just still trying to figure it all out. I'm betting its the latter.

I loved my first girlfriend intensely. I could not stop thinking about her. I still remember the perfume she liked. We were 14-15. And yet, as intense as this was, it dissipated quickly.

My next girl friend was ranked 3rd in her high school. She was very smart. She performed in school plays. I loved talking to her. Then she cheated on me. Oh well.

The next was "the love of my life", at least I thought so, and maybe she did too ... our friends were sure we'd marry and be together forever. She challenged me emotionally, her feeling rarely went unexpressed. And when our relationship ended, my friends began to question their own relationships.

And that relationship was important .. after 3 years together, she wanted to date other guys ... particularly this one "exciting guy" ... she told me all about him, but she didn't tell him about me ... she said that he was not as "understanding" as I was ... and yet she didn't get the irony in that statement.

Then I dated 3 or 4 girls who said they loved me, who then said they were going back to old boyfriends. In almost every case, they'd told me what a jerk the other guy was. Until they went back to him. We're they lying to me, or themselves?

It took me until I was 25 to find my wife.

When we are apart, I can easily recall how she smells. She is very, very intelligent. And, she was an actress in high school. And she's also my best friend, and my full partner.

And she can also make me angrier than anyone else on the planet (if she wants to).

But perhaps most importantly, she knows who SHE is. She really knows herself. She understands her own emotions better than any woman I've ever met. And she (usually) knows what she wants ... and when she's not sure, she tells me so.

She lets me know exactly what she thinks, and how she feels. And by doing so, she's given me a level of emotional and intellectual connection that I could never, ever, resist. A level of connection that no other woman seemed willing to provide.

So don't worry about falling too fast or being wrong ... make sure you know YOU ... and then make sure the guys understand and accept what you think, and and what you feel.

That's what I'll tell my daughters.

[lightningandsnow]

34. Aww...your post made me smile too.

:hug:

[JoePhilly]

38. I'm glad.

As a dad, I worry about about how to talk to my daughters about this stuff. So thanks for giving me a chance to try and put some of it into words.

btw ... I think my daughters assume that my wife and I met and fell love in 1st grade. Never loved anyone else ... and then we married after we could drive.

They seem to be very practical about it.

Good luck.

[Lyric]

30. self-delete...

[Rhythm]

31. Truly in love, and not just deeply infatuated... 3.

One i would have married (if i could have)
One i was married to for 13 years
The other i have lived with for the last 10 years, and will marry in a heartbeat as soon as we're somewhere that we can.

[graywarrior]

32. My SIL and I decided today that we are in love with Obama and his family

Pure love.

[begin_within]

42. That is awesome.

[Danger Mouse]

36. hmm...seriously in love? 4 times, so far.

although the most recent one i felt the most strongly about by far...
such is life.

[BlueIris]

37. 7. (Weird; I thought it would be a lower number.) nt

[LeftyMom]

39. One.

Just one. A few times beforehand I thought maybe I was, but it wasn't the same. Not even close.

One.

[tismyself]

40. 4 or 5 times a day.

[begin_within]

41. holy cow

is that online dating?

[tismyself]

50. oh lord no

Driving down the street, catching a glimpse of someone - bam, I fall in love. Talking with someone on the phone at work who has a really nice voice - I fall in love. Standing in line at the grocery store... I think you get the idea.

[harmonicon]

43. who knows

It's different every time. Somewhere between 1 and 4, I guess.... maybe more. Only once in the way that I didn't really know that things like that existed.

[DarkTirade]

44. Hmm. I think I'd have to say twice.

[TroglodyteScholar]

46. I thought I was in love a few times...

...but looking back, I'm going to say zero.

:(

[elshiva]

47. A lot.

:shrug:

[MilesColtrane]

49. Two and a half.

No. No dwarves were involved.

[akwapez]

57. I'm going with 2-1/2 also. n/t

[redqueen]

51. Once.

I thought it was twice, but thinking back... that wasn't love.

[MrCoffee]

52. Two

Not counting my two kids, because I don't think you meant it that way.

[SarahB]

53. I once would have thought 3 or 4, but really it's 2.

One was my first husband (didn't work, but spent a lot of years trying). Two is my husband Pat. Everything other than those whom I truly committed myself to was just maybe friendship with a little (or a lot of) lust thrown in (they could have become "love", but they really weren't). Love is pretty damned meaningful to me and I don't do it lightly.

[Shell Beau]

54. Once with my high school sweetheart/husband!!

[Heidi]

55. There were probably five times I _thought_ I was in love,

but from the vantage point of middle age, I'd say it was really only two times: CMW and a man who is now a dear friend to us both. I've been lucky, lucky, lucky.

[unpossibles]

56. Tough question

I would say... 4 or maybe 5 times.

Lust... closer to 30 perhaps. :D

[achtung_circus]

58. I have no idea.

I don't know what love is. I thought that I loved my ex-wife, figure out how that turned out. There was a woman when I was in my 20's that I would have (I think) happily spent my life with. When her family found out just how serious she was they moved her back to Portugal as I was neither Portugese or even Catholic. She didn't contact me. I suppose that says something.

Now I spend my time with a woman who makes me laugh and makes me cry just to see her. She is a friend, a companion, a partner and a lover. We haven't used the "L" word yet....it scares both of us.

It may be the only word that applies. We'll figure that part out..together. Maybe I do have some idea after all.

[dropkickpa]

59. Really and truly? Maybe once

I'm just not that deep usually.

[Mad_Dem_X]

60. Once.

With the man I am now married to. I thought I was once before, but it was only a one-sided infatuation, so I don't count that.

[Iggo]

61. I fall in love every day.

But really really for reals I've only been in love twice. I don't think I could go through that again, though. The third time would kill me for sure.