What does it really take?

When starting to date someone, there are many factors to take into consideration; whether or not you have things in common, what kind of music you both listen to, basically just finding out whether you can tolerate each other in most ways. There are a series of tests that relationships, old and new, must undergo in order to ensure that you can work it out for the long haul. The tests can range from meeting the family, to going on a long road trip, to seeing how your friends feel about him (and vice-versa), and so on. And most of the time we don't even realize that we are living one NOW.

I have been in many dating/relationship situations (enough that I wanted to write about them...) and through all of them my partner in crime at the time and I have gone through these tests. I have always seen the ways in which one, or both or us, fail. And before you know it, you've spent a year with someone only to dump them because you don't like how they chew, or drive, or they talk too much during movies. But that's not the real reason they fall apart.

We're all very different people, and through our childhoods, and into the adult years, we grow into who we are now. Not one single person shares all of the same experiences as another. So it's no suprise that of COURSE it's hard finding one person that we can spend the rest of our lives with. It's about finding the person that you can relate to enough, yet you can fill in the blanks for each-other where needed.

I'm certainly no expert. And I've thought that I found "the one" before. But I'm in a place now where I feel, for once in my life, that I may have found a true partner in crime. Someone who shares a lot of similar qualities to mine, but someone I've found myself learning from, whose opinion I trust. Don't get me wrong, there are still some serious tests ahead. But isn't that what life is anyway? It's definitely never easy. But isn't it worth it to have someone to stand, or fall with?

How much is it ok to be different in a relationship? Is it about passing these small tests, or finding someone to take them with?