Move on?

I've been wondering... How do we know what it is that we really want out of a relationship?

How do we figure out if our relationship is really on a decline, or if it's just one of those minor speed bumps that one encounters ever so often in a passionate love relationship?

Perhaps the number of speedbumps encountered per week is a sign, but can emotions be quantified and dealt with mathematically? Could it be that the fights are a sign of increasing closeness, a marker of that uncomfortable period of transition after which you emerge a more mature couple?

How do we know if we should stay because it's fulfilling and makes us happy; or get out because there is no future in sight and any later could be too late? Besides, how can one be so sure that there really is no future? Even if there isn't, is having a future and a marriage really all that important?

Why is it that we are okay with moving on to more "stable" relationships with guys who perhaps earn more or are about our age or are cuter, instead of staying with the man we love and seeing our love through thick and thin? Is finding love really like finding that perfect job, almost unattainable without switching a lot at first? Is love really the stuff of the lost Eden, no more to be found in this fallen world, or can a girl still hope?