The decision to get married is one of the two or three most momentous life choices you’ll ever make. It goes without saying that such a decision shouldn’t be taken lightly. Before getting engaged, it’s important to be confident that it’s the right choice and will lead to the future that you want for yourself. Naturally, it takes some time to reach that level of confidence in your relationship. In most cases, it takes a number of years for a relationship to reach this level of maturity. However, there’s obviously more to having a good relationship than simply investing time. Even after years spent in each other’s company, there can be a sense of uncertainty about the future.

A little uncertainty is perfectly normal, of course. When we consider life decisions as significant as marriage, it’s only natural to have a sense of doubt or hesitation. The solution is to think carefully and take stock of your relationship. Be honest with yourself about whether your relationship is providing you with the things you need and want. Look back on the time you’ve spent together and think about the things you’ve achieved together. If you find yourself taking a positive view of these things, you may well be ready for marriage. In this week’s blog post, we’d like to invite you to consider some relationship milestones that may help you decide whether you’re ready to get engaged. If you and your loved one have reached all of these, it bodes well for your future together.

You’re Comfortable Sharing A Living Space

Getting married means sharing each other’s space for years and decades to come. Before getting engaged, you should be sure that this is something that will work for both of you. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to their home, and it’s important that the two of you are compatible. It’s not necessary to have lived together full-time before getting engaged, although it would certainly be helpful. At a minimum, you should have spent a good deal of time in each other’s homes, or perhaps taken an extended trip together.

You Have a Shared Vision for the Future

Marriage is a life partnership. Once you’re married, it will be your duty to support each other as you strive towards your goals. For this reason, it’s important that your hopes and ambitions for the future are aligned. We all have different dreams for the future, and not everyone’s are compatible. Before getting engaged, you and your partner should have had many discussions about your plans for the future, and you should both be confident that you have a shared vision of what your future together will be like.

You’ve Been Welcomed Into Each Other’s Families

Marriage is a familial bond, and after being married you’ll find yourself with a much-enlarged family. It’s important that you’re both comfortable with each other’s families, and that you can see yourselves as part of both families. Before getting engaged, you should both have spent a lot of time with one another’s friends and family, attended family events together, and thus started the process of intertwining your social networks.

You’ve Learned to Compromise With Each Other

No couple spends their lives together without hitting a few bumps in the road. Conflict is a normal, and even healthy part of life. The important thing for a successful marriage is that you’re able to manage your conflicts in a loving and respectful way. Compromise will be necessary at times, and you should have already learned this skill before getting engaged. Perhaps you’ve had conflicting plans and worked together to find a resolution, or perhaps you’ve had a heated argument and patched things up with no hard feelings. These are all experiences that will stand to you throughout married life.