Making a commitment is about more than staying faithful. It’s about more than deleting dating apps and turning down strangers at the bar. It’s about more than making a promise to stay with this person and only this person.

Making a commitment is about putting effort into your relationship, fighting for your relationship, making (reasonable) sacrifices for your relationship. It’s about sensing a problem and coming to compromises. It’s about having the courage to deal with issues as soon as they arise instead of sweeping them under the rug and letting them escalate.

Making a commitment is about being reliable. It’s about showing up on time, every time. It’s about being there whenever your person needs you, even if it’s inconvenient for you. It’s about being their shoulder to cry on. It’s about being their soundboard. It’s about being their friend and their companion.

Making a commitment is about being on the same side. It’s about working as a team to solve problems and to reach success. It’s about encouraging each other. It’s about reassuring each other. It’s about supporting each other. It’s about believing in them as much as you believe in yourself.

Making a commitment is about tying your lives together. It’s about having family dinners during holidays. It’s about overlapping friend groups on weekends. It’s about sharing hobbies and revealing secrets. It’s about giving each other full access to the real, unfiltered you.

Making a commitment is about trusting someone else with your whole heart. It’s about tearing down your walls. It’s about letting someone else inside, even though it’s scary. It’s about putting your trust into another person. It’s about pouring all of your love into them. It’s about knowing you could get hurt but taking the risk anyway.

Making a commitment is about love. It’s about passion. It’s about effort. It’s about making a point to show your person how much you care each and every day, whether you’re leaving little love notes or sending a good morning text. It’s about caring about the other person’s happiness as much as your own because their emotions are linked to yours, their heart is linked to yours.

Making a commitment is about building a future together. It’s about figuring out what you want in five, ten years and tackling your goals together. It’s about creating a home together, creating a family together, creating a life together.

Making a commitment is about treating each other well. It’s about showing respect. It’s about staying kind. It’s about handling arguments with class. It’s about accepting you are not always going to have the same opinion, you are not always going to be in the best mood, you are not always going to feel the sparks flying. It’s about realizing your relationship will have road bumps and not caring, because you know you can get through anything together.

Making a commitment is about staying faithful — but it’s also about staying present. It’s about being there for your person. It’s about putting effort into your person.