"It is said that if a relationship does not grow past the “being in love phase” during the first year, it is doomed or at least destined to be problematic!"

I wrote about this once by telling the story of the time my first partner and I got into a terrible fight after I shaved off my mustache on a whim without discussing it with him, less than a year into our relationship.

While various people might look at that as either him trying to be controlling or us focusing on something trivial, it was really about conflict resolution and communication.

We got past the mustache fight with honest, considerate talking, with each working to understand the other's point of view. With neither insisting that he was 100% right.

Relationships are hard. I think if you don't strengthen them like this in the beginning, they are less likely to endure.