The Relationships you have in your life can make or break your happiness. A healthy relationship can bring you peace of mind, more fun, and a sense of belonging. It can also give you support that helps you achieve your goals and dreams. There is nothing quite like having a partner to share your ups and downs with.
It seems like everyone has an image in their head of how relationships should work. There are the ones where people manage to finely balance time spent together with the ability to pursue their own interests and maintain a fulfilling life outside of their partnership. There are those where you have a partner that will stay up late to watch your favorite show with you, but still makes time to get out on the town and have some fun, and then cooks you a delicious meal when you get home. There are those where both partners treat each other with kindness and respect, even when you disagree, and communicate openly about your feelings.
But not all of these relationships are created equal, and you may be in a relationship that doesn’t serve you as well as it could. The key is to understand what a healthy relationship is, and how to identify one when you find it. This will help you avoid staying in a relationship that isn’t making you happy, and instead invest in the ones that do.
A Healthy Relationship means that both of you are getting more out of it than you’re putting in. You might have some responsibilities that overlap between you and your partner, but overall you’re able to balance them so that each of you can enjoy your own interests as much as you enjoy spending time with the other. You both have a sense of purpose, and you’re able to achieve your personal goals with the support of each other.
Healthy relationships also mean that you’re both able to keep your own identity and don’t try to control each other. You allow your partner to pursue their own interests without feeling threatened, and you encourage them to do things that are important to them, even if they don’t necessarily align with your own passions.
Ultimately, a healthy relationship should be about mutual respect and the ability to have a life that is fulfilling outside of your relationship. If you find yourself feeling less and less satisfied in your relationship, it might be time to take a step back and ask yourself why that is. The answer might surprise you. If you’re not able to answer these questions, you might need to consider ending your relationship, or at least talking about it with your partner. It can be hard to admit when your relationship isn’t working out, but there are many benefits to doing so. After all, your life is too short to be living in a relationship that doesn’t add meaning.