From The Straits Times    |

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#1 If you’re truly in love, the feelings never fade

You know that feeling, the one you look at your significant other and wonder what you did to deserve him or her in your life. You’re constantly thinking about them and wanting to spend every waking hour together. But feelings can be fleeting. Love is not just about the feeling, but also the choices you make each and every day: To see the good in your partner rather than over-focus on the little things they do that irritate you; choosing to accept the flaws and quirks they come with, and above all, choosing to treat each other with respect and honesty.

See also: 10 SIMPLE, THOUGHTFUL WAYS TO SURPRISE YOUR SPOUSE ON THE WEDDING DAY

 

#2 Love overcomes all obstacles

It’s a notion that the hopeless romantics in us want to cling to, but to put it simply, it doesn’t. You can be madly in love but still have personal issues or conflicting beliefs and goals that might drive you apart. 

What love should do, is that it should instead inspire us to strive towards putting in effort to overcome issues, instead of relying solely on the idea of love to shield you from the ups and downs you’ll face as a couple  

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#3 If he/she’s the right one, it’ll be easy 

As much as we want to believe that successful relationships are easy and friction-less, the truth is that love is never a bed of roses (okay well, maybe when everything was new and you were looking at each other through rose-tinted glasses). In fact, the best kind of relationships take plenty of hard work from both parties. They take compromise – even when your SO annoys the sh*t out of you. It means asking about your partner’s day before launching into an angry tirade about how ridiculous your boss was. And it also means being nice, less irritable and communicative (when being selfish, critical and mean can be way easier) even on your bad days. But if it’s the right person, it’ll be worth the effort.

See also: DROP THESE BAD RELATIONSHIP PATTERNS BEFORE GETTING MARRIED!

#4 You have to be best friends

We’ve met plenty of couples who are each other’s best friends, and it’s absolutely great if they are. But the thing is, you don’t have to be. It’s healthy to keep your other bestie(s) close, even after you fall in love, so you have other people aside from your partner that you can turn to for the problems you’re facing. In fact, having to be someone else’s only source of support can be emotionally draining, and you don’t want this unnecessary pressure to hurt your relationship. 

 

#5 You can feel free to be yourself

I know what you’re thinking. But what I really mean here is that sometimes we get too comfortable around someone, and blurt out the first thing that comes to our mind – even things that can potentially hurt our partner. Or someone spews nasty remarks during a particularly heated argument

Either hold your tongue, or edit, edit and edit some more before you speak.

 

See also: 7 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR A BETTER, STRONGER MARRIAGE