Honestly, it makes me feel bad. My husband and I have been together for a long time and we have a VERY good relationship. We don't really compare ourselves to others too often, but I know others compare themselves to us. (I probably sound so conceited right now...). Our lines of communication are very open, we rarely fight and are still just as in love as we were (alllmost) ten years ago. I feel extremely fortunate because I know we are not the norm. I know others look at us and want what we have, and I sincerely hope they are able to find it.

I never try to compare. I've been been with my bf for over 5 years now and while I know it's hard not to compare, I think it's silly and a waste of time. Point being that every relationship is different and what is "normal" or "healthy" for one couple isn't always the best for another.

I look at it the same way when I use to compare myself to my older brother (four years older than me) who is married, has 2 kids and owns a home. I use to really get down on myself about it but finally I realized how silly it is and a waste of time. People progress and back pedal at different rates in their lives. Comparing two unique individuals is not a good idea. Apples and Oranges.

i do compare all the time, and i know it's bad, but i can't help it
i don't always do it when the times are good though - often i'll compare a sh*tty situation someone is having now with my relationship with my ex...i know sometimes it's helpful but sometimes it's not and i try to find a happy medium

Luckyme-- We are the same way. Our friends compare themselves to us all the time because we have a very healthy, happy relationship. I don't mean to come off as boasting, but I enjoy being a role model for friends who have cheated or used people in the past. It's easy to think that kind of behavior is ok, or that all marriages are bad when that's all you see or hear about. The only time I compare our relationship to that of others is when I take notice of what NOT to do.

I getcha bbkf and I do like to be a role model. That part is very flattering. I don't like it when those doing the comparing believe they are in a similar situation and rush into something. That's when I feel bad.

Oh and we totally do the same thing with the whole what NOT to do thing...we also do that with parenting.

i think the question probably is referring to whether or not you say, while talking to a girlfriend, "well MY boyfriend did this...", "i know you want mean because MY boyfriend..." and "i would never do that because OUR relationship..." etc.

I do compare some parts of my friends' relationship but we are all on different levels of our relationships that it never seems to be a conflict. Plus, we are all very different so what is right for you, isn't always right now me.

If one of my friends is having a problem in a relationship, instead of comparing I tell them a about a similar situation I experienced with my ex and how I dealt with it. Personally I find it helpful when Im going through a situation and one of my friends has gone through the same thing and we can talk and compare stories.

Never ever ever in a million years would I compare mine to anyone else's!

Mine are way too special to reduce to making comparisons.

Plus, my friends generally have some pretty wack ass relationships, if you can even call them that, so it would be like comparing a pencil to a leaf.

I like the headband. LOL

I don't compare with my friends. In my opinion, there's no point, as we have different personalities and different taste in men. We're apples and oranges.

The only thing that matters to me is that we're happy with our love lives.

However, I do sense that some casual friends compare themselves to us. I don't pay attention to that because of what I mentioned -- I find that pointless, as everybody and the couple they're in are unique. JMHO.

I think you can look at relationships around you and learn broad lessons about love and life etc.

I think a lot of times relationships look very different on the outside than they are in reality. I know that I used to look at my sister's relationship as ideal. But then she told me they have frequent screaming matches and I was so surprised. It made me realize that you just don't know what other people's problems are!

i try not to outwardly compare my love life to my friends since i do have a lot of friends who have what i want and they've had it for a long time, but then there are some that i know look at my relationship in the same manner. when you start to compare yourself to others, that's when you get down on yourself and you're not making it about you, instead it's about others. i can only hope that i have the happiness that some of my friends want, but i don't 'covet' it since that's just not mature

Luckily I know my love life is much better than all my friends. I do get jealous and compare our sex lives because they're still having sex with different people and I'm just having it with my husband. That doesn't make me feel bad it's just not the same because they have all these wild stories while I like to keep mine sacred for the most part.

I feel good about my love life so I have no problem with it comes to comparison. I am more touchy when it comes to money...