I've been dating my boyfriend for a year and a half and things are going well. He is my best friend and I love him so much, but there are a few things I'm concerned with. I am the type of person to date for the long-term idea that we might potentially get married. This isn't to say I'm ready for someone to pop the question, nor do I ask their ideas on marriage, etc, but my boyfriend's ideals on certain topics that are pretty significant are drastically different than my own. I ultimately don't see a long-term future with him, but things are good now and there is no other reason to act upon these feelings. It's probably a good 5-10 years before I am even ready to get married. Should I ignore the fact that we ultimately probably won't end up together in the end, even if that's how I'd like to think about relationships? I don't know if this is enough justification when we work so well...

In my opinion if you two don't have problems you should ignore it, I mean.. the "nothing last forever" is often true, so just live happily your time with him as long as both of you are happy together.

I feel like this is very critical for a relationship to be long lasting and successful. If it was just trivial opinions then that's just something you guys can work out, but if it's something that you are passionate about and he shares opposite feelings about the matter, then that might be a deal breaker in the long run. For example, I consider myself a feminist and I'm all for women's rights, if my boyfriend did not share those feelings and thought it was all pointless, no matter how much I loved him, I know I would never be truly happy with him because I could not fully be myself around him. But that's in that reason because I'm passionate about that. But if it was something like, I love anime but he doesn't cause it doesn't interests him, but he still gives me space to watch it and listens to me fangirling about it and even engages with me by watching some with me because I ask him to, then that's fine, cause he loves me and wants me to be happy and is letting me be myself around him unapologetically. Another example, my boyfriend's grandparents have opposite political views: he's a republican and she's a democrat, but because that's just their political opinion (not something they're passionate about) they've worked around it and have been happily married for 53 years now! So it really all depends on how deeply you feel about those topics and if you can truly be happy and be yourself around your boyfriend without feeling shame and being sure that he still loves you nonetheless. I also date in the mindset that I wanna marry that person. I was lucky enough that my BF and I share a lot of important viewpoints, and the less important ones we manage and find common ground. That's also a vital thing, even if you guys don't agree you gotta be open minded and willing to accept that and find a middle ground. But like I said, if it's something that really means a lot to you, and you feel that he won't ever understand or would at least try their best to keep both of you happy in the relationship, then I feel it might just not be for you. They might be a great boyfriend but not husband material. Remember, a marriage is a serious endeavor, you will get to spend every day of your life with that person, and you're supposed to be happy and free, not suppressing yourself in order to make them happy. It's a commitment you both gotta make so choose wisely who you're sharing your life with! Don't ever change or pretend to be somebody you're not, that's not true happiness.