ase

...Yeah. This is a hard one. I'll give a tentative plug for marriage. (Tentative because my 2.5-yr marriage does not give me the authority to speak on this. But when has that ever stopped me?) When both are invested in it, and are a good match to begin with (maybe, in your language, agreeing on what compromises are not acceptable, and which are so acceptable they are barely compromises), it's the most awesome thing in the world -- partially because the compromises are shared, and they build something together. Then again, that very quality probably is part of what makes divorces absolute hell, to see all that going for nothing. And people I know, my age, are starting to get divorced, and I can see that it would definitely be better not to get married if one had any doubts about being a good match or were not totally sure both you and your partner were invested in making it work. (I think kids compound both the satisfaction of building if the family works, and the horrendousness if it doesn't, but I'm really not qualified to speak on that.)

Now that I've rambled on (and on... sorry, you landed right in something I've been pondering a lot lately, because of my sister's upcoming wedding and the aforementioned divorces)... *hug*, and I'll shut up now.