A house is not a home....

What makes a relationship worth it?

When I say relationship, I am referring to an intimate bond between two individuals. Things like marriage, partnerships, etc. What makes these bonds worth the effort that it takes to maintain them?

I've found that, in large, a relationship is like a house. For the first few years, there is a period when everything seems ethereal. No world seems to exist outside of the defining walls, and nothing within them seems wrong. The walls are a comfort, not a prison. All of the mold seems perfectly placed, the paint--while not ideal--is of no consequence, the stairs do not squeak. Each trip outside brings a tiny pain, but each return brings a tingle. This new place is yours. It is home. Your home.

And then comes the effects of time. The comfort turns prison. The stairs begin to creak, the paint--whose color burns your eyes--begins to chip, the mold begins to sag. Each moment indoors seems an eternity; each trip outside seems a much needed reprieve. More time is spent by the windows as you desire less and less to travel to the center of the house.

And this, I fear, is the course of most relationships. So, what makes it worth it?

A relationship should be a malleable rock. Oxymoronic? Perhaps. But still, I think it fits. A relationship should be something that is firm enough to lean on, yet flexible enough to adjust to the currents of time (like the joints of a wall expand and contract according to the heat or cold). It should be solid enough to protect against the rains of doubt; yet, it should be permeable enough to let things in and out (like the screens on the windows). It should sturdy enough to stand when the world shakes, yet it should be mobile enough to relocate when the grass begins to grow greener somewhere else. Most of all, it should have a strong foundation of trust and honesty. Without this foundation, none of the other characteristics are possible. But, most of these elements are things that take time to construct. Like the walls of a house, these need to be fabricated and tested. They need to be tempered and reinforced.

So, what makes a relationship worth it? Necessity? Desire? What?

Honestly, I am not sure. What makes a house worth the wait of construction?