Thank you for your insight, and you have gotten me thinking.

Is forty the magic number where someone becomes whole? Because I think people in their sixties would laugh at both of. Perhaps the journey of trying to attain a whole sense of self is a lifelong journey and never fully attainable.

Also, one thing that I have been mulling over from your response is how can we guarantee that any changes we do make will not hurt our significant other? I think that is a big shoe to fill because how can we know the future? We can’t and we cannot predict who we or our partner will be.

I completely agree with you that lifelong partnership is not only possible, but completely attainable, but no one has a guarantee of what tomorrow holds.