• Most relationships begin by discovering ways you and your partner are alike, relishing the things you have in common and celebrating the goals, values, and dreams that make you believe you've found the perfect partner.
• But just as partners are alike in some ways, they are also very different in others, although it can be tough to see in the beginning.
• as relationships progress, partners can change, discovering new goals and values and uncovering more differences instead of similarities.
• In any long-term relationship, there are going to be difficult conversations—the times when you feel polarized about an issue, when your partner's point of view threatens yours, when you feel defensive, angry, or frightened of what they are bringing up or when your point of view has changed.