Are you in a Healthy Relationship? Signs and Tips on How to Build One
What is a Healthy Relationship?
A Healthy Relationship is based on honesty, trust, acceptance, and open communication. It is supposed to uplift both partners and act as a support system for growth both as a person and as a couple.
In a healthy relationship, both partners give and take equally and contribute to the success and nurturing of the relationship. They support each other in their own goals and are willing to accept each other’s differences for a bigger common goal which is the perseverance of the relationship.
What are the signs you’re in a Healthy Relationship?
If you’re wondering if your relationship is healthy, below are some signs to look for.
1. You can trust your partner
Trust is one of the pillars of any healthy relationship. This doesn’t mean you have to be able to blindly trust your partner without any sort of reasoning. Trust is a two-way street. If your partner portrays qualities like honesty, and reliability and stays true to their word, there is no reason not to trust them.
If one partner is unable to trust the other based on previous bad experiences or any other reason, it is likely to create problems between the two of you. So, if you’re in a relationship where you both can trust each other, it is a good sign of a healthy relationship.
2. You can communicate openly
Another key indicator of a healthy relationship is open communication. What this essentially means is that you’re able to communicate with your partner no matter how difficult things get. It’s easy to talk about fun and happy things in your relationship.
But it’s more important to keep the communication lines open and honest when things are difficult. A lot of times we see avoidant behavior from one or both partners when it comes to difficult conversations. If you and your partner can openly communicate through difficult situations, chances are you’re in a healthy relationship.
3. You respect each other
Respect is earned and goes both ways. When I say respect I mean to say respect each other’s time, differences, and ways of doing things. No matter how ideal you are for each other, every person is different and has different priorities outside the relationship.
In a healthy relationship, both partners respect each other’s opinions on different things despite sometimes not agreeing with them.
4. You can overcome disagreements
No relationship is perfect and all of them have disagreements. Sometimes over minor things and sometimes it can be a major conflict.
In a healthy relationship, both partners accept the situation and come together to openly communicate about the issue and manage to overcome disagreements. This doesn’t mean it’s always easy to overcome them, but you find ways to compromise and find solutions.
5. You have a life outside of your relationship
A very important sign of any healthy relationship is having a life outside your relationship. Humans are social beings and need to build connections apart from romantic relationships.
What this means is both partners have their friendships, family connections, and colleagues that you meet and hang out with.
Now that you know what a healthy relationship is supposed to look like, it’s time to learn more about how to build a healthy relationship and maintain it.
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How to Build a Healthy Relationship
1. Always be honest
All healthy relationships are built on trust which is something that cannot be earned without honesty. To build a healthy relationship, you need to be honest from the beginning and always stay honest and true to your partner and yourself.
What we see a lot in relationships is one or both partners being dishonest to avoid being judged for their actions or even worse to cover up for disloyalty. If you want to build and maintain a healthy relationship, you need to be honest even if it means that you will have to go through an argument.
2. Communicate often
Another important step in building a healthy relationship is communication. This is not to say that you should be talking to your partner all the time but to communicate enough and openly about the important things and also to talk about your day and smaller things in life.
This builds intimacy and closeness between the both of you and helps you to understand and know each other better. Communication should be open through good and bad times in your relationship.
3. Establish healthy boundaries
No matter how close you both are, there should be some sort of boundaries set in a relationship. Each of us is different and has our preferences.
To build and maintain any healthy relationship it is very important to communicate what is and is not okay for you and ensure that both partners always respect those boundaries. This ensures that neither of you crosses a line that could create unhappiness in the other and lead to unnecessary arguments.
4. Make time for intimacy and romance
Living in our capitalist societies today, most people are leading very busy lives trying to find the balance between love, career, family, and health.
It is common for couples to lose intimacy and romance simply because they’re tired after their long working hours and trying to do so many other things simultaneously. But for a relationship to thrive and sustain, both partners need to make the time for intimacy such as going out on dates, talking to each other, and most importantly physical intimacy.
5. Do activities together
Another important thing to do to maintain a healthy relationship is to do things together that both of you enjoy. You should try to go on dates regularly, cook together, go for a walk or run, and take vacations together as much as you can afford.
6. Work on your own self-improvement goals
Part of maintaining a healthy relationship with your partner is also being able to have a healthy relationship with yourself. You need to feel happy, confident, and content about yourself first before you can make another person happy.
So even if you’re in a relationship, don’t forget that you’re also a person who needs to be taken care of. So continue to work on self-care, productivity, health, and mental well-being.
7. Be accepting of hardship and challenges
Many people have completely unrealistic expectations from a romantic relationship. They assume a relationship is supposed to be easy and if it’s not then it’s not the right person for you. In many cases, this is not true.
Most couples that I know who have had long and healthy relationships say that you need to accept a lot of things you can’t change and be prepared to make compromises to make a relationship work.
8. Be open to change
The only constant thing in life is change. And relationships aren’t any different. My relationship with my wife has changed so much over the past 5+ years we have been together.
Just because things aren’t what they used to be it doesn’t mean it’s not as good as before. Over an extended period of time, both of you change, and become more familiar with each other and it’s completely normal for things to feel more mellowed down and settled.
In my opinion, this just means that the relationship is maturing and you’re both more comfortable now and happiness comes through small things in life. So be prepared to embrace change.
I’m not claiming to be a relationship expert but hear me out..
Romantic relationships are not easy, and you should not go into one with that mindset. Relationships require trust, honesty, loyalty, consistency, and at times, being able to endure pain and hardship.
But if two people are committed to making it work and staying together, a healthy relationship can be the stability you need in your life to grow into the best version of yourself.
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