"I've been married for about 13 years. Society makes people think that marriage is some weird fairytale where you complete each other and are blissfully in love every day. And, I'm sorry, but that's total BS."

As a Senior Staff Writer at BuzzFeed, I cover real-life stories that explore relationships, lifestyle (including travel and beauty), and the internet's most fascinating trends.

Note: Some responses were pulled from this Reddit thread by u/homewardbound25.

"It takes work for me to calm down, ignore it, put more effort into the relationship, and wait for things to get back on track again. I was also single for most of my life before him, so I still sometimes struggle with considering his needs and not just mine. It makes me feel like a crabby shrew, but putting his comfort or desires before mine takes effort sometimes! This part comes naturally to him, but it doesn't to me.

Compromise and sacrifice in general aren't easy. We have both given up things to be together, and you don't always have to feel blissfully over the moon about that. 'All the boxes' aren't going to be checked — it's if you can live with the ones that aren't. And by 'live with' I mean mostly happily. Some days may be harder than others, but not harboring relationship-killing resentment towards your spouse. You just don't have to be thrilled with everything!"

"The hardest part of marriage so far has been cancer. My husband just finished chemo for his second cancer diagnosis. We've been together for 27 years, and I love him more than I can put into words, but being a full-time caregiver while also having kids is a lot. People need to know that marriage can be hard when you become your spouse's caregiver. It changes how you view them, and it depletes you in ways you never imagined."

"As it pertains to life in general, I had some seriously weird quirks when I moved in with him — and he had some seriously weird quirks, too. For example, the sink and dishwasher are empty, yet his empty coffee cups end up on the side of the sink on the counter? Just put the damn cup in the sink, or better yet, in the empty dishwasher! Come on! (Obligatory: DO YOU WANT ANTS? BECAUSE THAT'S HOW YOU GET ANTS.) I had a bad habit of hoarding empty soda cans or water bottles on my desk. We've both improved those little quirks for the benefit of each other's sanity.

I'll be brutally honest, though. There are some days when I ask myself why I got married to begin with. These days are not the result of being mad or upset with him, but rather of my being weird and self-critical. The thought process goes a little something like this: 1) I'm 28 years old. I could totally be fine by myself on my own. 2) But you love him. 3) ???

It both surprised and didn't surprise me when he was talking about our marriage one day, and he said something along the lines of, 'You know, I don't think this would ever happen, but I have this fear that you'll just get bored and leave me.' I don't know from what depths of absurdity he pulled that from, but I guess it makes sense?"

"YES. OMG. We are child-free by choice, and he's one of two kids; his sister is 11 years older and never married or had kids, and my MIL, as sweet as she is, always asks for grandchildren, even though she lives 8,000 miles away."

"The day after I got engaged, I wrote a list of my expectations after marriage. How would we live. A house within how many years. How big. Who decorates. How many times sex/week. Who would do chores. How much $$$ to save. How long to work. Who plans vacations. Where? When to retire. What happens if one gets violent. What happens if one cheats. Taking care of family. Buying furniture. Shopping alone for what. Etc. He laughed, but we went through each item. It clearly answered our beliefs and expectations. It set the tone for the marriage."

"My friend's grandma said, 'When you're married, you'll ALWAYS love your husband, but there will be days you won't like him.' And Dan Savage wisely says, 'A good relationship is one where most days, you don't want to kill them.' I think both of those are MUCH more real than what society tells us."

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.