6 Signs Your Partner Is The ONE

The modern-day dating scene is rough. From learning how to navigate its many rules and games to being “left on read” by someone with which you thought you had a connection to overanalyzing every detail of your last date, almost every aspect of the dating world is enough to leave even the most hardened person feeling vulnerable and defeated.

It makes sense then that you’re ready to exit this minefield and settle down with the first person who swipes right. Before you close your Tinder account, though, you should decide if the person you’re with is really the one. How can you tell? Below are six signs that can point you in the right direction.

Though simple, the results of the bar test are very telling. When out at a bar with the person you’re dating, do you frequently glance around to see who else is there? Does your mind wonder who will see you two together? Or are you completely focused on your new partner and content in his or her company? If the latter is true, he or she passes the test.

However, if you’re frequently distracted with him or her, it may be time to consider breaking it off.

When a relationship is wrong, it will leave you feeling anxious and on edge. Why hasn’t he texted you back? Does she really think your jokes are funny or is she just being polite? Should you stay the night at her place, or will that scare her away? When you’ve found the person you’re meant to give heart shape engagement rings to, all that anxiety disappears.

You don’t wonder why your partner hasn’t responded because you know he or she has a life outside of the relationship. Spending the night at each other’s places is a give-in, and when you two laugh together, it’s genuine. There’s nothing fake about your relationship, and that’s how you know it’s real.

Relationships require work, but they shouldn’t be work. Your partner should fit seamlessly into every other aspect of your life (okay, most aspects), and not just live in the microcosm of the relationship itself.

When you bring your partner around your friends and family, you shouldn’t have to work to make him or her fit in — the relationship is right, that will happen naturally. The same is true on the other end — you should feel at home around your partner’s loved ones and able to be yourself.

If you struggle to balance the relationship and other aspects of (and people in) your life, it may be time to call it quits.

Couples that wash and dry together stay together. That may not be a real saying, but the sentiment is genuine enough. If you’ve found someone with whom you can do the dishes, fold laundry and run errands and enjoy that time together, you’re in deeper than you thought.

Individuals who enter relationships with the mindset that they can mold the perfect partner traditionally end up sorely disappointed. Though you both should encourage each other to always be the best versions of yourselves, neither of you should ever try to change one another. It’s okay to ask your partner to not discuss politics at the dinner table.

It's not okay to ask him or her to change his or her views to be in line with yours. It’s okay for your partner to encourage you to pursue your career goals. They shouldn't try to convince you to quit the job you love to pursue a higher paying one. If you love everything about your partner and he or she loves everything about you, you may have found the one.

Ultimately, a life partner should be someone who supports you when you’re up, champions you when you’re down and encourages you in all of life’s endeavors, and you should do the same for him or her. Married couples are a team, and teammates support one another through thick and thin.

If you have it in you to support your partner’s wildest endeavors, and he or she would do the same for you, you may have found the ONE!