This Relationship Corner: Testing Your Relationship

There comes a time in most relationships when you put on a white lab coat, grab a clip board, and force the one you love to run through a maze. I'm being metaphorical (I hope) about the ways we test the relationship and each other. As we seek to find out whether this person is someone we see ourselves with long-term, we run various tests, just as our partner is testing us. And that's the way it's supposed to be.

The reason we test is simple. It's how we discover things. Just ask the Mythbusters. They test a myth to see whether it's true, false, or plausible, and no matter how it turns out, they know more about it coming out of the test than they did going in. Then they blow something up, which is why science is awesome. In our case, these tests help us discover what we want out of a relationship and whether this other person can give it to us.

But before you go racing to find the latest Cosmo quiz, let me assure you that I'm not talking about those tests, but ones that are actually useful. I'm also not taking about being sneaky and underhanded, trying to manipulate your partner into doing what you want. The goal is to see who your significant other truly is and whether the two of you are compatible long-term.

I'd like to profile three of the tests that we run in our relationships and why they are essential to your long-term health. After all, if you can weed out the riff-raff early, it will save you weeks, months, even years of time, time better spent looking for the right person.