For a man, the vital question is: how do I know if she is a keeper or not? Will our relationship withstand the test of time? The decision list below will help you know if your current date is a what most of us know as a keeper – a woman you can bring home to your mom.

How Many Boxes Does She Tick Out In this Decision List?

A long-term relationship or even marriage highly depends on whether you got yourself a keeper. Quietly check your woman against the decision list below, and see how many boxes she ticks out:

She has the smarts.

When looking for a life partner, it is important that she is smart. And, it is much better if she is smarter than you. It is believed that a smart partner will continue to challenge you intellectually, so your mind keeps working and remains sharp. You continually discuss and churn out ideas. And, it doesn’t stop even if you’re already old and gray.

She is honest.

In every relationship, honesty is still the best policy. If you have found yourself an honest woman, that is golden. In this day and age of deceit and scheming to get ahead, an honest woman is actually quite refreshing.

She has a genuinely positive outlook on life.

Let’s face it, negative people can really be toxic. And, the sad thing is, they can also be bad for our health, especially after prolonged association with them. Eventually, their negativity will rub off on you and it’s not going to be a happy state. If you’re dating someone who is as positive as sunshine, then you’re on the right track.

She laughs at your jokes.

There was a study in 2006 where psychologists suggested that having a partner who thinks they are funny is really important for men. So if you have already found a woman who laughs at your jokes and you can laugh in the face of problems, then don’t let go of her anymore.

She supports your goals while pursuing your own.

There is nothing more heart-warming than a woman who has her partner’s back when he is pursuing his dreams. But don’t get this wrong – she is not a wallflower. While he works on his goals, she also works on hers. She shows her genuine support and even extends help when necessary.

This is just a partial decision list. Of course, there are many more factors to consider. But, if your woman now has all these traits, then for sure, take good care of her. Do share this list if you found it helpful. Don’t forget to read more tips on the blog.

How connected and aware are you of your partner? There are relationship tests that you will encounter throughout your partnership that will really test the level of connection you have. When you overcome the tests, it is clear you and your partner are withstanding pressures that come your way, whether you are 20 or 60.

Pass These Relationship Tests To Strengthen Your Connection

A connection is important in every relationship. As time passes, ideally the connection we have with the person we’re with should grow and deepen. Before you reach this point, you may have to go through the following tests:

1. Working Together

There are people who do not want to work with their partners because they just clash. Their ideas seem to just to oppose each other and a fight usually ensues. It can also get worse if the woman is superior in the workplace.

However, couples with a strong connection can actually even strengthen their relationship while working together. They learn to adapt and deal with each other’s temperaments without devaluing or compromising the quality of their work. They love as well as respect each other so they put more value in their relationship rather than their ego.

2. Traveling Together

When traveling, you do not only see beautiful sights, but you also go through airport queues, immigration woes, rented cars breaking down, and shabby service or accommodations. There are also personal differences and preferences in travel. All these things can dampen our travel plans and you will get to know your partner more especially with how he or she deals with inconveniences while on the road.

Strong couples usually have each other’s backs. They have pretty much the same interests but if they do disagree, they agree to give each other opportunities to satisfy their wanderlust.

3. Living Together

Dating can be a sweet and romantic time but living together is an altogether different arena. When you live together, you discover some disgusting habits in your partner that were not noticeable when you were going out. Couples with a strong connection work out their differences, either through acceptance, compromise, or change, depending on the practices at home. These can be challenges that can just be attributed to the adjustment period. Eventually, these differences will be settled and the couple can live harmoniously together. If they don’t get settled, separation occurs.

People are different from each other so the dynamics of each relationship is different. But, these three situations are real relationship tests that will show your level of commitment and connection to each other. For more tips on relationships, read other posts on our blog.

We encounter plenty of emotional mistakes in our pursuit of love and happiness. Ideally, we need to learn from them so we can move forward. However, what’s happening is that we tend to make the same emotional mistakes over and over again. Reminders of what these mistakes and tips on how we can completely get passed them might do us good.

A Happy Life Is Within Reach When We Avoid These Emotional Mistakes

Most of the time, life gets in the way. And so, we go on never really keeping in mind the lessons we have learned from the past emotional mistakes we did. So we can stop torturing ourselves, read through this list of common emotional mistakes we make regularly:

Avoiding Uncomfortable Emotions Or Feelings

In the movie “Inside Out”, we learned a lot of things about how we feel. It was revealed that all kinds of emotions exist in one person. Shutting down all other emotions like fear, sadness, and disgust may be uncomfortable, but will eventually suck all the happiness out of us. The fact is, uncomfortable feelings help us grow as individuals. We have to experience negative emotions in order to truly experience positive ones.

Denying How You Feel

Similarly, denying your true feelings will also eat up the genuine joy in your heart. When we have physical injuries, we treat them. We should do the same with our emotional wounds. We should acknowledge that they are there and they need to be taken care of. And immediately, too, if you can. Suppressing emotions is unhealthy because the hurt just keeps mounting and eventually, you can blow up like a volcano or you can crash into depression. If left untreated, the emotional injuries will manifest themselves physically.

Chasing Happiness

People’s idea of happiness is becoming the rage nowadays. We chase happiness, like it’s the end-goal in life. But, chasing happiness will not give you lasting gratification. It’s like pressuring yourself to do everything in your list in order to be happy. It removes the joy from spontaneity as well as truly experiencing what life is really about. Chasing will make you feel worse because you cannot accept disappointments and frustrations, and are not living in the now. In our journey, we need to accept that the moments in our life can’t be happy all the time.

Happiness can be a tricky thing to achieve. We can’t always be happy. Life is not perfect. Our plans never work out exactly the way we want it. The key is always balance. You will be happier when you experience different kinds of emotions and know how to deal with them in a healthy way. For more tips on self-development, read the rest of our blog.

Every loving relationship will hit a road bump sooner or later when the honeymoon period simmers down. You are not out of place when you experience this. In fact, you are part of the whole population of couples experiencing highs and lows in a long-term relationship.

Ways To Sustain The Spark In Any Long-Term Relationship

The honeymoon period is the sweetest time with your lover. You are inseparable and ready to conquer all obstacles. Many couples don’t always sustain this kind of feeling. The good news is, it can be brought back:

1. Flirt with your partner.

Remember how easy it was to flirt with your partner when you were starting out? Well, he or she is still the same person so you can do it all over again. And, do it more frequently, daily if possible. There is nothing wrong with it. Flirting will just add spice to your long-term relationship.

2. Make each other feel loved.

Every woman or man wants to be treated nicely. Making your partner feel loved is easy to do as long as you remember the little things that matter – the gestures that let your partner know you care.

3. Always keep the fun.

Life has its share of problems. We have jobs, families, friends, and even “enemies”. But, if you try to keep the atmosphere fun at home, you know that you have a safe haven to fall back on. Both of you will feel safe and happy in each other’s arms.

4. Some alone time and time apart.

While we are thoroughly in love with our significant other, it is a wise idea to set some alone time. It’s like time off. It doesn’t mean that you have to have a fight in order to have a time off. You can spend this alone time thinking or writing in your journal or getting a massage, or going out with your friends. You need this personal space in order to maintain a healthy, long-term relationship.

5. Be spontaneous.

A lot of times, the things we plan do not turn out well. When your plans fail, just be spontaneous. There’s no reason to be upset over little things. You can also be spontaneous with intimacy. It can just happen anytime and anywhere you feel comfortable.

6. Keep dating.

To keep the connection and the spark alive, keep dating your partner. It doesn’t have to be fancy each time. The important thing is that you are connecting and spending time with each other.

Do these things constantly and the flame in your long-term relationship will continue to burn brightly. For more tips, read other articles on our blog.