It takes one...

Lately, I've seen so many bad marriages. I've met a lot of women who are stuck in a rut in life, all because of one fateful bad decision to marry. Some are divorced, but have lost their youth and ability to love from fighting with their mate for years. Some are still married, but the look in their eyes even to a complete stranger in the grocery store says "I married the wrong man."

This makes the concept of marriage seem much less desirable to me. I am in a long-term relationship, learning about communication and trust. I've seen sides of my guy that irritate the heck out of me, and I know there is a lot of things I envisioned for my future mate that he will never be.

So it becomes this game for both of us. How much can I compromise? What's negotiable and what's really important? I do a lot of compromising in relationships, but I need someone who can do the same for me.

When do you say, this is where it ends for me, I'll love this person no matter what? I've seen a lot of ugly "no matter what's" go very wrong.