1. Even if your relationship doesn’t last forever, you know that what you did have together – for however long you had it – transformed your life. It’s not that you wouldn’t be devastated if it ended, it’s just that either way you already know this is a relationship that you’ll carry with you through all the ways it’s changed you. It’s been an irreversible turn in your story, and no matter what happens, you already have a lot to be grateful for.
2. You’re interested in a lot of the same art or writing. You have similar taste when it comes to any kind of emotional expression. This is to say that you think the same way, and you process the same way. Your souls are tuned into the same station, if you get what I mean.
3. You never have to stop and “figure out” whether or not you’re “meant to be.” You just… are. You have not, and in the foreseeable future will not, have the existential crisis of whether or not you’re “meant to be.” You don’t have to question it or pick apart “signs” or “hidden meanings” because you’re already living it out.
4. You create together. Whether it’s just a party for your friends or actual passion projects or even work! The only thing you love second to just being around one another is creating together.
5. The strongest aspect of your relationship is how you communicate. You feel like you could talk to them about anything, and do. It’s not to say you do so flawlessly all the time, just that you feel comfortable and happy to share with them all the parts of yourself that you’d otherwise tuck away.
6. You instantly bonded. You had this immediate, almost otherworldly connection with one another, and it felt like meeting them was saying “right, so, where were we again?” picking up the conversation right where you left off.
7. It was unexpected. You weren’t looking for a relationship, so in other words, you weren’t just looking for someone to take up a role in your life. Your partnership blossomed out of nothing but your connection, however inconvenient or ill-timed it was. You made it work.
8. They feel like family already. They actually, literally feel to you the way your family does (in the least creepy way possible.) You’re comfortable with them, and feel loyal to them in a way you’ve only ever experienced with your actual flesh and blood.
9. You feel more motivated to do the things you want to do on your own, not less. You feel more inspired to be who you are, and live your own life, than you did even when you were single. Your relationship does not in any way feel like a way to avoid or escape whatever it is you wanted to do (or were working toward) beforehand. It’s added to your life, not become your life.
10. They brought out the worst in you, and they brought out the best in you. This is what the best relationships do: they awaken us to all that we can be, and show us everything that’s holding us back. It’s a strange paradox, but one so profoundly beautiful, it’s kind of hard to grasp until you’ve experienced it yourself. (If you’ve gotten this far, you probably have.)
THOUGHT CATALOG