Did you just fall in love with that person's profile while dating online?  Is it possible?  When you're shopping for a date online, you need to understand your own urges and emotions.  Sometimes it can even feel like you just fell in love, when perhaps you fell in lust.  Here are some simple ways to gauge your feeling.  Online dating offers a lot of different people to choose from, and understanding your responses to different profiles will help you along the way.

It is said that the average person falls in love about 4 times in their life.  Here's how you know if that special someone you met dating online is "the one".  First ask yourself, how is the communication? If the two of you have spent time together both dating online and offline, and you're honest and open about your feelings, chances are it's more like love.  Are you open and honest about your differences and do you work to resolve them?  If you don't know much about your online date, except for their favorite kind of pizza and their birth date, then chances are you aren't in love yet.  That crazy feeling you have is probably something more akin to lust. 

Another great sign that it's love between you and that special someone from the internet dating site is whether there is respect.  Respect is a big deal in a relationship.  Do you respect your online dating partner's lifestyle and job, and do they respect yours?  Do you value their judgment and decisions, and vice versa?  If there is a good deal of respect in the relationship, and online, chances are there is love there.  If there is little respect, but a lot of passion, you are probably just feeling lust again.

Another great sign that there is love between you is if there is prioritizing.  When your internet dating partner prioritizes seeing you or talking to you online, there is a better chance that they are experiencing love.  Are you doing the same?  If you're prioritizing the meetings with your online dating partner, then you could possibly be experiencing love.  When other things are more important, like visiting your great Aunt Martha, or going on that fly fishing trip, then perhaps the priorities aren't there, and most likely the love isn't there either.  Pay close attention to how your online match prioritizes your time together.

Basically, if you see someone's profile on the internet dating site and automatically wonder if that pounding in your chest is love, you're probably lusting after that person but not loving them.  True love comes from time spent together and compromises made for each other.  It's about learning and growing together.  Online dating can lead you to finding such a relationship if you take the time to decipher between lust and the potential for an enduring love.  Don't let your animal instincts get the best of you, and develop a relationship with someone that has a potential for growth and learning.  That kind of enrichment lasts a lifetime!