When it comes to adulthood, there are certain social norms that are expected; getting married is one of them. Making such a commitment isn’t something that should be taken lightly, so understandably, knowing if you’ve met your future spouse can be scary and confusing.
Communication
The biggest part of knowing that marriage is in your future with your current partner is communication. It’s difficult to pinpoint the best time to actually “pop the question”. If you do it too quickly, you can inadvertently scare your partner away. If you wait too long, your partner may think you aren’t interested in committing to them.
Don’t let all of the unknowns overwhelm you, pay attention to the conversations you have. Have you ever casually spoken about marriage? That’s a fairly good indicator that you both are on the same page. There are other things that are also important. Do your ideals line up with regards to children and child-rearing, expectations, money and values? You won’t agree on everything, but being like-minded on the big issues is a good sign.
Wedding Day Bliss
Having similar tastes is important when choosing a life partner. The more things you both enjoy and can share, the easier life together will be. The first official big event you’ll have as a couple will be your wedding.
Planning your wedding, which is a huge life event, will also be less taxing if you both share the same vision. Your wedding should be a reflection of your personalities as a couple. It should embrace the things that define your relationship such as your shared love of folk singers and nature, for example.
Awkward Topics
Another sign you’ve met your match is the ability to talk about awkward topics such as money or political views. If you are going to spend your lives together, it’s important to know each other’s opinions on how money should be handled. It’s equally important to know and understand the other’s financial situation. Starting a life together with a surplus of debt can complicate even the most perfectly paired couple.
The current political climate can be a difficult one to manipulate. With the media influencing and highlighting certain political agendas, people nationwide are being divided and turning on each other. If you share the same political inclinations, you won’t have to navigate that tricky path. However, having different views is not something that should keep you from being happy together, provided you both respect the other’s opinion. Mutual respect and acknowledging, even though you’re a couple, you can have your differences in opinion, without it affecting your relationship.
Conflict
Conflict in any relationship, platonic, work or romantic, will have conflicts. It’s actually a very healthy aspect of any relationship. Through conflict, you learn how to come to a mutual understanding. It’s important to know how to deal with disagreements and adjust your reactions if you instantly become defensive or argumentative. Ideally, you should avoid harsh words, name-calling and similar hurtful responses. If your relationship has a lot of drama, chances are, your marriage will too.
Effort
Like anything else in life, such as work or friendships, in order to be successful in your marriage, you both have to invest effort. You have to be prepared to have difficult conversations with complete honesty and respect. You should be comfortable enough with your prospective spouse to acknowledge your shortcomings and be accepting of theirs. Understand that if you are both willing to enjoy the good times and work together through.
There are no guarantees how your marriage will turn out. You need to be able to objectively see both the strengths and weaknesses of your relationship. Once you understand your own needs and ideals and how they align with your partner, you’re well on your way to wedded bliss.
