I accept my partner’s flaws and always leave room for growth.

Some flaws are furniture and some are wet cement, and the whole skill is telling them apart. The chronic lateness may never move. The way they handle money might still be forming.

Acceptance applied to everything becomes resignation. Improvement expected of everything becomes a renovation project with a person living inside it. Most couples swing between the two for years before landing somewhere workable.

Room for growth is largely a matter of not narrating who someone is. People change more easily when the description isn't already sealed. Nobody has ever grown into a better version of themselves while being read their own file.