When writing our book, Project Everlasting, my co-author Jason Miller and I traveled over 12,000 miles in search of America’s Greatest Marriages and interviewed over 200 happily married couples in search of the secret answers to what makes love last.

We asked these “Marriage Masters”, who’ve all been married over 40 years, “How do you know when you’ve found the one?”

The truth of the matter was, as single bachelors we had no clue.

How do you know when you’ve met that special someone with whom you want to spend the rest of your life? What criteria should you use to make this uber important decision?

We’d both been in relationships with women who fit every criterion we’d been supposedly holding out for – relationships we just knew would go the distance. But somehow we fumbled the ball and things didn’t work out.

The Marriage Masters stressed to us the importance of finding someone who was compatible on a deep, soul level. Find someone who shares your value system.

While beauty and attraction may ignite the initial spark, what keeps the flame alive as time and gravity work their wonders on our appearance?…

Friendship!

Find a person who makes you laugh. Someone with whom you feel utterly comfortable sharing yourself. Someone whom you know would love you even at your ugliest. Someone who makes you want to be a better person.

Find someone whose mind and spirit is just as attractive as his booty. Someone with whom you share common interests and a deep trust. That kind of friend.

When you find that person who is both your best friend and your boyfriend, you’ll know he fits the Marriage Masters criteria for what it takes to be the one.

Wishing you great love and true friendship!