You are sooo right about there being worse offenses! :) And yeah, it isn't easy to find a good man sometimes. (I got lucky when I was young!)
When I was dating a guy that was too agreeable, it definitely didn't pass the smell test with me. In my experience, it usually meant that they were conniving, not weak. The weak ones have a different sort of aura about them...I pitied them, really. The conniving ones just scared me.
One other thing...it's a piece of advice that was passed to me, and I think it's equally valid for men. Every failed relationship you've been in has one thing in common...you. It doesn't mean that the person has done anything wrong, or that they are a bad person. It may just be that they are dating the wrong sort of person for the expectations they have, that they don't REALLY know what it is that they want out of a relationship, or (as in my case) weren't demanding enough of themselves, or accepting less than what they deserve.
This isn't directed at you, HNY...I think I remember you saying on a different thread that you have a steady girlfriend. :) I'm just throwing it out there for consideration.
Yea, the 'tests' are no big deal to me, really, unless they are overdone or overdramatic. Actually, it's a good thing since I began to recognize them - I just look at it as an opportunity to show the woman I have a pair of stones (without actually showing my pair of stones and getting arrested!).
Like I said, I don't blame women at all for using methods to get a small rise out of a man in order to see what he is made of. Quiet strength usually is the winning combo. Weakness is not attractive in a man nor a woman. Conniving is even worse - women know instinctively that in the courtship phase that a man who is too agreeable is probably hiding a bad nature. The genuinely nicer and genuinely more agreeable men suffer some blowback in this regard.
I work in self improvement and I use a variation of the remark you posted - 'Each of your successes have one common denominator - you. Each fo your falures have one common denominator - you.' A lot of people adopt a mentality that their successes are 100% to their credit, and that their failures are flukes and attributed to conniving, flukes, or otherwise placing blame on someone else. That is BS, and that kind of mentality leads to many problems in coping with life.
I have a galpal, yes, and we get along great. That being said, even after a couple of years together, I still field a test on occasion. Like I said, I look at it as an opportunity to show her I can't be pushed around, and I know that she admires a man who can't be pushed around. It satisifes both of us - that's the crazy world of romance!