When do you know what you think you know?

So this is part two of the second half of my last post (whew, that was a mess) - How does a man know that you've found the person he is supposed to marry?

This is a weird one because I have a slew of female friends who have already been proposed to in this lifetime, and they've declined the offer. I guess that just says that there are plenty of guys out there who have little to no standard or no clue as to the answer to the aforementioned question.

I joke with a friend, we'll call her Wildcat-Squared, about once a month or so and ask her for her hand in marriage because she'd be able to take care of me and my expensive tastes with all the dough she stands to roll in. But really, I know I won't seriously pop the question until i know the answer to be a profound yes.

And yes, there are more factors. I'm not just going to marry the first Halle Berry that comes along and give me the wink and the gun. I think you have to get past that the "love at first sight" period, beyond the "eewie-gouey" phase and dip right into the gut of a relationship, which is getting through tough times. If you can't get through an arguement with somebody without cracking a smile, listening and actually thinking about how that person might be right, it won't work.

I'm not crazy, but I believe a good fight is the best part of a relationship. It's at those moments when you realize how much a person actually cares about you, and what you believe. It's when someone has the gall to look you in the eye, and tell you that you're wrong about something or tell you something that you need to fix about yourself, that you actualize a relationship's worth. In turn, you do the same for them, but you're able to take what they dish out, and vice versa.

When you've been through that relationship wear & tear, and the engine is still churning, then I think you might have something. Then a man might be able to think about thinking about asking the question. Then you can start to daydream and maybe utter a word or two about Tiffany's, the dress, the honeymoon and driving to soccer practice.

But really, just give me Halle Berry and all of her physco tendencies. I'll be alright, alright? That's what a relationship is about, right? Sacrifice? Besides, I wouldn't be as 'bad as Eric Benet.'