Are You In A Healthy or Unhealthy Relationship?
Most of us are so desperate to be in a relationship that we often don’t wait to find out if we are in a healthy or unhealthy relationship. Television dramas, romantic comedies, and books have turned many of us into a generation of women longing for love and often finding it in all the wrong places. The problem is not limited to women – an increasing number of men are reporting what everyone has suspected for long – that men too have their share of relationship problems!
A healthy relationship is one where both partners feel loved, respected, and secure. It allows two people to grow without growing apart. It allows them to nurture each other without losing their own identity or personal space. Many romances start out based on looks, wealth, social status, or even the car you are driving. While these are not predictors of an unhealthy relationship, they may not help you have a healthy relationship unless you can build a solid foundation based on trust, respect, and mutual give and take.
Here Are Some Things That Make A Healthy Relationship:
1. Respect: Before the heady chemistry, comes respect as a determiner of the health of a relationship. Don’t get into the often virulent and destructive “passionate romance” obsession until you are sure your partner respects you.
2. Trust: Not able to trust the other person to not cheat on you, not swipe your credit card for shopping, or even keep their promise of meeting you for lunch? Rethink the relationship.
3. Sharing: This includes a whole range of things – from material possessions to thoughts, time, feelings, joys, doubts, memories…the list is endless. A healthy relationship involves lots of sharing. Sharing leads to better understanding of each other and lessens conflicts.
4. Willingness to recognize and sort out problems: If you are not in a healthy relationship and you see that you are in a sticky situation, any attempts at conflict resolution will be useless if both partners are not willing to work on problems.
By learning what constitutes a healthy relationship, you can avoid unhealthy relationships and strengthen the existing bond with your partner.
