A healthy, flourishing relationship is built on trust, respect, and communication. Discussing future plans with your partner and coming to compromises also direct towards a long-lasting relationship.
However, if your partner has been hesitating to bring out the big ‘M’ discussion, or showing any of the following signs, your relationship might not end the way you had hoped it would.
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Conflict avoidance: A relationship with no arguments sounds perfect, however, you know deep down inside that even the most loving of relationships do not come without their problems. If they refuse to confront you about their problems or listen to you when you confront them, chances are they are worried that the relationship might fall apart because of it. Unfortunately, it is one of the most potent destructive behaviors that can ruin chances of marriage, because of the lack of communication, something which is an integral part of a functional relationship.
2. Believing marriage will make your life better: If you think marriage is the end goal of your life, or that it will improve the quality of your life significantly, you are already on the path of a failed marriage without the aid of your significant other. A healthy relationship can only work if both partners can stand on their own feet, and understand that a marriage can only add to preexisting happiness.
3. Avoiding talking about the future: If your partner shies away at the mention of a future with you, whether it be moving in, marriage or having kids, they might not see a future with you at all. A lot of people try to explain away this fear by saying they ‘want to live in the moment,’ however, if they are incapable of having a mature conversation about future prospects, then it’s probably time to move on.
4. They don’t want to meet your family or introduce you to theirs: Even if you have moved in with them, they continue to keep their family away from you or refuse to meet yours. If they are not ready to introduce you to the family, chances are they are afraid to commit. The way to resolve this problem is talking through their problems and asking why they keep their family distant.
5. More excuses than resolution: Let’s say you finally bring up the topic of marriage to your partner, and they immediately start bringing up potential problems. You offer them solutions, but they seem to keep piling on more problems, or rather, excuses. These are excuses to get out of a conversation about marriage, and they are not worth your time if they can’t find it in themselves to want to resolve it with you.
6. What both of you want out of the relationship doesn’t match up: Your goals and plans need to match up, or at least be open to compromise. For example, if you both want to travel, that’s great! If you want to travel, and they don’t, but both of you can handle being apart from each other for a short while, that’s also great! But if you can’t seem to come to a simple compromise on most of the things, and want vastly different things from the same relationship, you might be facing compatibility issues.
So, look for these signs and that will surely indicate potential problems in your paradise
