Is it worth ending my [M27] long-term relationship with my girlfriend [F24] in order to date other people before settling down?

PREFACE:

Before I get into it, I just want to say that I know that this is a critical life decision that only I can make. That being said, I would really appreciate input from people who have more life experience and may have been faced with a similar choice in the past.

THE DILEMMA:

My girlfriend and I have been together for 6 years, and she is the only girl I have ever dated or slept with. Things are good most of the time, but the relationship is far from perfect and would likely continue to have issues forever if we chose to spend the rest of our lives together. However, these issues are things I have been able to accept and deal with over the years, so I really honestly believe we could make it work if needed.

As I am getting to the end of my 20's, part of me now worries about never having explored my options. This isn't motivated simply by sex, but more that I rarely meet anyone new and I think dating is a good avenue to put myself in new social situations and grow in a way I never have before. Obviously, there is an inherent risk in losing something good in order to see if I can have something great, where I may realize what I had was worth keeping and will have lost forever if I choose to break up.

I'm sure this dilemma must be common.

tl;dr: My question is this: How can I tell whether it would be better to break up, when I can only find out AFTER already committing to the decision? Are there ways to tell if it's worth the risk of putting my life out into the unknown?

Thanks in advance, hopefully this isn't too abstract since most of these posts are about simple petty issues.



Submitted April 20, 2019 at 06:46AM

PREFACE:Before I get into it, I just want to say that I know that this is a critical life decision that only I can make. That being said, I would really appreciate input from people who have more life experience and may have been faced with a similar choice in the past.THE DILEMMA:My girlfriend and I have been together for 6 years, and she is the only girl I have ever dated or slept with. Things are good most of the time, but the relationship is far from perfect and would likely continue to have issues forever if we chose to spend the rest of our lives together. However, these issues are things I have been able to accept and deal with over the years, so I really honestly believe we could make it work if needed.As I am getting to the end of my 20's, part of me now worries about never having explored my options. This isn't motivated simply by sex, but more that I rarely meet anyone new and I think dating is a good avenue to put myself in new social situations and grow in a way I never have before. Obviously, there is an inherent risk in losing something good in order to see if I can have something great, where I may realize what I had was worth keeping and will have lost forever if I choose to break up.I'm sure this dilemma must be common.tl;dr: My question is this: How can I tell whether it would be better to break up, when I can only find out AFTER already committing to the decision? Are there ways to tell if it's worth the risk of putting my life out into the unknown?Thanks in advance, hopefully this isn't too abstract since most of these posts are about simple petty issues.
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