Dating vs Relationship

[InbetweenDreams]

I was talking with one of my friends last night as they invited me over to do dinner and hangout.

In our discussion before I went home he said that when he and his partner (now of 11 years) first started living together things he never thought would be an issue became an issue. For instance, my friend is kind of anal and particular about things... The example he gave was toothpaste... His partner would just squeeze the tube anywhere and it bugged him. That's not really the best example. Now I try to imagine what sort of things I might do that might drive someone to the brink of insanity and vice versa, it is hard to think of those things and I think that is all due to not being in a relationship where I had lived with someone else and having to share things like toothpaste or food...

My friend of course learned to loosen up a lot and he said at the time he was dating his partner he really wasn't looking to settle down, he was perfectly fine with the idea of just having hot hookups and so on. I find the whole thing interesting and I want to hear more about what other people have experienced. No, I don't think reading other people's accounts are going to keep me from driving someone crazy because I left the toilet seat up or whatever... I'm sure there's plenty of shit I would do to drive someone crazy and I think it is really different from dating, or even a stay over... all that stuff, even when it isn't planned isn't the same thing but I do think something like a stay over is good but of course everyone is anxious, must hide all the messes and things, and I think it is when we getting comfortable that all the things that one might do to annoy us start coming out of the woodwork. Of course there's a whole host of other problems I mean someone could be bad with money, they could be a cheater, they might stay out late, they might start ignoring you, there are many many things at stake. The thing is that while I feel like my God I would never hurt my partner in anyway, I know that's basically bullshit, I don't want to but to think I'm somehow impervious to not doing that is very much flawed. I want to try to be more aware, more proactive and prevent things from going sour.

Now, yeah other posts, other things yeah hunting down someone right now isn't my priority...but I guess for now it is nice to to discuss and try to take note of these things so, hopefully, when the day comes that I will at least have the knowledge and hopefully be smart enough to catch things and try to be a good person.

So I am hoping to hear your accounts, stories about how you dealt with things and how it changed you and your partner...