12 Types Of Relationships You Have Before Finding Your Person

For many people, the road to finding the One is long and lined with lots of distractions. There are a few common types of relationships that most will experience in some form before they finally find their forever person. Some are fun, some are painful, but all of them are important stepping stones towards finding the right one for you.

  1. The puppy love Puppy love is the first kind of love that a person has. Usually, you’ll experience puppy love when you’re still in high school or college. Put simply, it’s the first time you fall hard for someone. Much of the time, puppy love isn’t even real love. But the feelings are so strong and you are at an age where you’re so impressionable that it seems like the strongest love possible. In reality, though, most puppy love is made up of lust and infatuation. Normally, you’ll forever hold a soft spot for the person you were in puppy love with.
  2. The rebound One of the most common types of relationships you have before finding your person is the rebound. If you’ve ever had a breakup, then chances are you’ve also had a rebound. This is the type of relationship that you bounce to soon after your breakup. When people get into rebound relationships, they usually are not ready to start dating again, let alone jump into another full-blown relationship. Often, you’ll still have lots of feelings, good and bad, for your ex, and won’t have the emotional stability to fully give yourself to this new person.
  3. The settle Not to be confused with settling down, the settle is a relationship you get into just for the sake of being in a relationship. Your feelings for the other person are not genuine, and you sacrifice the things that are important to you in a relationship to be with that person. Often, people settle because they fear they can’t get what they really want. Settle relationships usually end when you realize that you deserve what you want in a relationship, and when you develop the confidence to stop fearing single life.
  4. The dramatic Some relationships are full of drama, from start to finish. Like puppy love, this kind of relationship often comes into your life when you’re still young. Because as we age, we start to lose the patience and energy that these kinds of relationships require. Dramatic relationships are exhausting, full of intense arguments, and feel like an emotional roller coaster.
  5. The toxic Sadly, the toxic relationship is one of the types of relationships that most people will experience before they find their forever person. This is the relationship that’s all bad for you. Normally, toxic relationships feature abuse or infidelity, among an array of other toxic behaviors. This kind of relationship does not enhance your life or improve your wellbeing, the way a relationship should.
  6. The one that got away Breakups don’t always happen because you stop loving each other. Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out, but you still hold a special place in your heart for the other person. When you go through life always wondering about what would have happened if you’d stayed together, that relationship becomes the one who got away. And many exes from these kinds of relationships stay in each other’s lives as friends.

More types of relationships you’re sure to experience

  1. The friends only You can’t force romantic chemistry. Though chemistry is usually obvious from the beginning, some people don’t realize that they don’t have it with someone until they’re well into a relationship. This becomes a friends only relationship. You get along, you like each other, you have the same values, and you respect each other, but you’re better off as friends.
  2. The experimental This is another kind of relationship that most people have earlier in life. Pretty self-explanatory, this type of relationship allows you to explore different ways of being in a relationship. You might try dating someone completely different from whom you’d normally be with. Or you might look at new kinds of relationships, such as open relationships or casual relationships. Often, this kind of relationship is a huge learning curve and teaches you a lot about who you are and what you like.
  3. The co-dependent The co-dependent relationship might seem like the One in the beginning. But you’ll soon realize that this is one of the unhealthiest relationships to be in. Why? This is the one where you lose your independence. Having to spend every waking minute next to your partner isn’t a sign that they’re you’re forever person. It’s a sign that you’re co-dependent. In other words, you’re emotionally and psychologically relying on your partner. In return, you lose the ability to take care of yourself.
  4. The forbidden romance The forbidden romance usually has a short life span. Because the reason why it’s forbidden often becomes more important as time goes on, until it’s too important to ignore. These relationships are fun and exciting, sure. But again, as you age, they just become hard work. When you reach a certain point in your life, the safe and stable seems a lot more appealing than the person you can’t have.
  5. The situationship The situationship isn’t really a relationship. Rather, it’s an arrangement that is undefined. You’re more than just dating, but you don’t use labels, and you’re not seeing anyone else, but you haven’t spoken about exclusivity. This is like the limbo of relationships. Ultimately, you don’t know where you stand with the other person, which becomes frustrating and eroding to your self-worth.
  6. The cyber relationship This is one of the most common types of relationships, especially in 2022. In our modern world, most of us will have a relationship that exists purely online. Whether it’s a long-distance relationship or not, these relationships are convenient and can fill a void of longing for another person. However, for most people, the need to have a physical relationship tends to override the convenience of the cyber relationship sooner or later.
Vanessa Locampo is an Aussie writer who’s equally obsessed with YA fiction and pasta. Her time is divided between writing all the things, reading all the things, listening to Queen, and bopping her cat on the nose. She has a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and has written for sites including Hotsprings.co and Discovering Montana, and currently works as an editor at Glam. You can keep up with her on Instagram @vanessaellewrites.
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