Is There Such a Thing as Love at First Sight?

Let’s face it: most of us (if not all) have had this moment of meeting somebody somewhere, and bam! You were convinced that you have found the man of your dreams, or the queen of your heart. Cupid’s arrow hit the spot, and you simply couldn’t take your eyes off of the person. Then you blinked, and by some horrible cosmic joke, you realized that your future life partner was already in the arms of another person. You actually believed that love at first sight can happen to you, but soon discovered that it can only happen again and again to the likes of Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, etc, etc.

The problem is, they have one thing that you don't-- The fantasy world of Hollywood, that’s what— and you, learned the hard way. A lot of people are guilty of this, but it doesn’t mean that nobody believes in it anymore. Men and women alike can be a deep lover—a person who falls head over heels at first contact—and strongly believe in love at first sight. He/she believes in it so much that just about every person they fancy becomes their “meant-to-be with”. Often, this kind of person has a distorted sense of what an on-the-spot true love really means.

Many can be blinded by the dangerously sexy curves or the manly physique, while ignoring the possibility that she can turn out to be a clingy and dominating gal, or he can be a manipulative and self-centred player. The thing with love at first sight is this: if every man or woman you date is your true one and destiny after only a single encounter, then you significantly diminish its effect. On the other hand, the feeling can probably have more permanency if a person encounters this feeling once in his/her entire life. Women are usually wary in the early stages of a relationship, but eventually warm up to the idea of falling in love and commit with much more eagerness.

Since they have a tendency to fall more easily than the men, they are by far faster to commit. Maybe women are just wired to be committed, or it could be the effect of watching too much chick-flick where the knight is always brave and the damsel is always in distress, waiting to be rescued. This fairytale-like kind of thinking often hinders a woman from knowing a true love from a make-believe one, and so she falls for the next guy every single time. However, there are men who are hopelessly romantic, too—and of course there are those who are just plain hopeless.

You know, the type who calls repeatedly every day, writes poems with the most romantic prose, and plans the typical hand holding walk on the beach with the stars twinkling by. Men can fall hard, too, especially with a beautiful woman. They are just as susceptible to love at first sight as the women, and can be very blinded by attractiveness, even if she can be as annoying as a wart on the foot. Just keep in mind that having a crush on, being attracted to, and falling in love are all very different things, whether you’re a man, woman or LGBT.