How Long Can / must i Wait for Chemistry to Develop?

CHEMISTRY is all too often an illusion. Of course, it’s still a wonderful feeling, but life experience and science have taught us a few things about chemistry.

Chemistry allows us to sweep under the rug the fact that he’s a selfish asshole or that she’s a crazy bitch.

1) Chemistry is temporary. Usually, chemistry lasts from 1 ½ to 3 years before it wears off. Soon, the person who was the “9” becomes a “6”. At this point, many women become disillusioned with their partners, even though all it means is that you’re finally seeing him clearly.

2) Chemistry is dangerous. When you’re under the influence of chemistry, you are under the influence of hormones that act like drugs. Can’t eat, can’t sleep, high highs, low lows, the feeling of obsessive longing…it’s all quite unhealthy. And what most of us have discovered is that because of the intensity of these feelings, you may completely end up ignoring your partner’s bad qualities.

Chemistry allows us to sweep under the rug the fact that he’s a selfish asshole or that she’s a crazy bitch…and later justify this behavior and fight to stay in broken relationships that make us unhappy.

This is why I have long advocated putting compatibility up on the same pedestal as chemistry, and perhaps elevate it even higher.

Simply put:

A relationship with a 7 chemistry and a 10 compatibility is a happy marriage.

A relationship with a 10 chemistry and a 3 compatibility is going to make you miserable.

Now, where readers have twisted my words – annoyingly, repeatedly – is by suggesting that I’ve somehow told you to give up on chemistry.

Feel free to comb through 800 blog posts and 41,000 comments over six years. I have never said this – or even suggested it. Never.

Yet somehow, many readers seem to struggle with the concept of a nuanced world, instead of a black and white one where a man is either your instant soulmate or a complete turnoff.

You’ve got a guy who seems like a great guy and is doing everything right on paper. You think my advice is telling you to keep him when you don’t want to keep him.

Not true.

You need to have a personal chemistry with your partner. You need to fundamentally enjoy being together. You need to feel like you can relax around him and be your best self.

If you’re merely tolerating him, rather than enjoying him, you’re wasting both his time and your time. Dump him and move on.

Similarly, if there’s no physical chemistry – meaning, anything less than a 5 or a 6 in that department – cut him loose.

You shouldn’t need to get drunk to kiss him. You shouldn’t force yourself into believing that he’s cute because he’s nice. You need to have some spark to start – and that spark usually grows over time after you come to love the guy.

So those are two reasons – lack of a basic personal and physical chemistry – that you should break up with a perfectly nice person.

Yet there’s one big reason to keep a guy you’re not obsessed with:

If you’re merely tolerating him, rather than enjoying him, you’re wasting both his time and your time.

Your expectations of chemistry are way off.

In other words, you can have an amazing marriage to a man even if you don’t obsess about him, miss him mournfully while he’s gone for a few hours, or be positive he’s your soulmate.

That stuff means nothing. It wears off. It’s distracting.