There’s a turning point in every relationship when a couple should choose whether to get married or to break up. A decision is necessary because staying steady at the status quo can leave someone in the relationship frustrated, as feelings of insecurity and uncertainty emerge.
One starts to question where things are going, if this is indeed the life partner for you, or is this just a waste of time and emotions. There’s no handbook to determining which is the best thing to do, but in general, when you see these signs, you should pop the question sooner than later:
When you’ve been together for a while
Yes, the number of years you’ve been with the person isn’t the best measure for a strong relationship or marriage, but it does say a lot about you as a couple. It’s not easy to stay in love with a person, as it entails great patience and grace. For you to have come this far, to stick to each other over the years, it’s fair to assume that you’ve accepted each other’s imperfections already that you’ve decided to love each other regardless. That’s an important foundation in marriage.
Once you hit your second or third anniversary, you should already be thinking what the next step is for your relationship. Unless you’re waiting for your significant other’s PhD or a more stable financial status for you to afford the wedding and home she wants, then you should head on to marriage. If there’s nothing pulling you back from doing it, then there might be something wrong in your relationship, which more often than not, is a reason to break up.
When you think about the future together
When you’re already making plans — let’s say, where to live, when to buy a home, how many kids to raise, then that’s an indication that you both aren’t thinking about going anywhere else. That you’re seeing other as part of your future. If you were able to navigate those difficult future talks already with your girl, and she’s sending you photos of her best friend’s favorite ring styles, take the hint.
Go ahead and shop for the jewelry yourself already. If your girl has a specific taste for engagement rings, Utah jewelers can help with custom services. On the flip side, though, if you haven’t sat down and talked yet, and you’ve been together for quite a while already, perhaps it’s high time for that discussion. If you’re not too comfortable with that, despite being with this person for years, then that’s a red flag already right there, isn’t it?
When you both have the right motives for getting married
Of course, your real intentions about this new chapter in your life matters. If you want to get married simply because you want to and nothing else, go ahead and do it.
If you want to get into this so that you could save your broken relationship, perhaps help you forgive your partner for something they’ve done long ago, then it might be wiser to take a step back first. You may stay in the relationship and work things out, or you can go your separate ways and let go of each other, so you can repair the brokenness and start the forgiveness. Just be real to each other.
There comes a point in your life when you have to make tough decisions in your relationship. If you see the mentioned signs though, it’s worth popping the question now and plunge into marriage.
