10 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Committing

We all adore that love story when you see each other and just know that you are going to be with that person for the rest of your life. The movies show you what you think you want in a romantic relationship. The question is have you really thought about what you want out of a relationship and are you truly ready to commit to someone else. Here are 10 questions you should ask yourself BEFORE committing to another person.

1) Do you have time for a relationship? Outside of parties, events and other great places to take a date, do you have time to build and grow a relationship? This is important because if you're focusing on your career, school or other important things, you may want to wait to start building a romantic relationship, since it will take a lot of work as well.

2) Are you a one woman/man person? If you aren't ready to settle down, but want the person you've met then just be friends. If you want to play the field and talk to other people, don't ruin a relationship by cheating. If you know you're not ready to settle down then don't play with other peoples emotions. Be true to yourself as well as others.

3) Are you ready to share your space? This may seem superficial, but it is a big reason relationships get messy. People are single for long periods of time and when they find someone they want them in their space just not overtaking it. The problem with that is when you commit to someone and move in or spend a lot of time together at one another's places, you tend to be yourself and that means putting things and leaving things in places the other person may not like. You have to be open to change and creating a "we" space and not a "me" space.

4) Are you ready to mix your friends and your romantic interest? If you have a lot of single friends or party friends will this mix with your relationship goals? Remember, you were just single so you don't want to cut off single or party friends, but you have to understand those relationships will change once you have a mate. Therefore, you have to ask yourself are you ready to limit parties, change and limit friend time and/or mix your friends and love interest. For many people this isn't an issue. Mostly, because you probably met the love interest while out with friends, but for some it can be harder if they partied all the time and the love interest wants to have private time.

5) Am I financially ready to be with someone? This question isn't just for men. If you're trying to get yourself together financially, is it a good time to be committed? There are a few ways to look at this: if you're moving in together you could save money, but if you're living apart then going out, spending money the overall dating can get costly. Nowadays, women and men are paying the date checks. You can always split the check, but eventually you will have to spend money doing things together. If you're trying to get financially stable, you have to ask yourself if commitment is for you right now.

6) Do you have past relationships to end? When you are building a romantic relationship you want to be transparent. This means anything in your past that may cause issues in the present relationship you want to disclose, but you want to make sure there are no loose ends in previous relationships that will cause problems. If you have people to cut off, situations to correct or anything that you wouldn't want carried into your life, you should complete these tasks before getting in a committed relationship.

7) Are you mentally ready? Some of us have been through so much that we need time to get to know ourselves. You have to ask yourself are you mentally stable? Can you build a relationship with someone else after all you've been through. You don't want to carry grief, pain, hurt and anger from another relationship into the new one. If you're not mentally ready to start over take time to get to know yourself, what you like and don't like, and move slowly.

8) Do you genuinely like this person? It takes time to fall in love. It takes time to get to know each other. The question you have to figure out is are you genuinely for this person. You don't want to be with a person because they make you feel better, are fun, are attractive, have money or you don't want to be alone. You should genuinely want to be with a person for who they are and for who you are.

9) Are you ready to inherit friends and family? When you get with someone in a committed relationship you take on their friends and family as well as them taking on yours. Can you see yourself hanging out with these people? Do you see yourself going to family functions and engaging in conversations. Getting to meet their family and friends and determining if they could be apart of your life is a big deal. If you can't stand their best friend or mother - you have a problem because I am sure that neither are going anywhere. Can you live with that?

10) Will you be able to be yourself? Many people find that when they get with someone else they change what they do and how they do things - to some degree. It is great to try new things, but are you able to completely be yourself with this person? You want to be sure you're not giving up who you are and what you love to be with someone else. If you give and take on things that is great. The problem comes with you give to much of yourself and find yourself confused on who you are and what you really want. Be sure to ask yourself if I commit to this person, will I still be me?

Life is full of unexpected things. You could find someone on a subway, train, party, grocery store, mall, etc. Every story is supposed to blossom with fun, adventure and love no matter how you meet. Many people are meeting online now. The question is once you've engaged with a person romantically, are you ready to commit to them? Do you see yourself in a relationship? Ask yourself these 10 questions and see how you feel. They have nothing to do with what the other person wants. It all about what you want. So happy to share this with you loving folks. Keep loving & living.