13 Things Romantic Relationships Can Teach You About Yourself

Have you ever been in love? Being in romantic relationships provide you with emotional fulfillment while still having a best friend to binge-watch shows with. Having a dedicated partner can also teach you a lot about yourself. You’ll figure out the good and ugly sides of yourself. Here are 13 things romantic relationships can teach you about yourself.

1. You learn what’s important to you. Being in a loving relationship is a lot of compromise. You and your partner may have hit it off but that doesn’t mean you will see eye to eye on everything. Coming into this relationship you had many opinions on how things should be done. That worked out fine when you were single but now there is another set of opinions you will have to consider. Be prepared to be flexible on some aspects but don’t compromise so much that you forget who you are.
2. You learn you’re not always right. Ouch. This one may hurt a little. When you’re single, it’s easy to feel right all the time. When you have a committed partner, it may become clear that you’re not. This is where true personal growth takes place. Being willing to see a situation from your partner’s point of view and humbling yourself to see your faults may be difficult but that’s when true love can begin to bloom.
3. You learn how to give and receive love. Everyone has a love language, maybe even multiple! Starting a relationship you might not know what words, tasks, or gestures make you feel the most loved. It might take some trial and error to figure it out but eventually, you will know what makes you tick and what doesn’t. You will have to figure this out for your partner as well. It might be obvious from the start but it also might take some time. When you both have it figured out, you’ll mutually feel loved, appreciated, and taken care of.
4. You learn how to be a team player. Romantic relationships to have an extreme amount of teamwork. A one-sided relationship would not have the same outcome as a partnership. Working as a team will not only bond you together, it will make life easier as well. Together, you will feel like you can take on the world.
5. You learn how to put others first. Staying in committed, romantic relationships will teach you how to be less selfish. When both partners are putting each other’s needs and desires above their own, it creates an environment of love, safety, and comfort. When both partners commit to this, each partner will still have all of their needs met while exceeding their original expectations. Seeing your partner put you first will encourage you to do the same for them and vice versa.
6. You learn how to react to conflict. It’s inevitable. Any relationship is going to have some conflict. If you find that your relationship doesn’t have any, that may be a red flag. What will truly make your relationship last is figuring out how to have good conflict resolution. How you react to a stranger in public or to someone who upsets you on social media is completely different than how you should be reacting to your romantic partners in relationships. Even when you KNOW they are wrong, there needs to be some strategy to keep the conversation respectful.

More important lessons you learn from your romantic relationships

1. You learn what your toxic traits are. We all have them and it’s not a fun feeling when we realize what they are. Being in romantic relationships will expose your toxic traits, sometimes at full speed. Your partner needs to feel comfortable enough to confront you about your toxic traits without worrying that it will backfire on them. You hopefully will feel the same.  For any loving relationship to last, these traits will need to come to the surface and be dealt with correctly. Having open conversations with each other will maintain a relaxing bliss in the relationship.
2. You learn what your life goals are. When you were single, you may have had a clear life path with goals and milestones along the way, especially for your romantic relationships. Now that you’re in a loving partnership, BAM that all changes. What used to be “your” goals now has to blend into “our” goals. Of course, you can still have some individual desires but the future now involves another person who may have a different outlook than you do. Do you both want kids? If so, what type of parenting do you want to implement? Do you want to own or rent? Do you want to travel?  How many pets do you want? There are so many wants in life that will now need to be blended with your partner.
3. You learn to embrace personal differences. Being in romantic relationships doesn’t mean that you need to become exactly like your partners. You both will have different preferences, opinions, and views on many topics. To maintain the love in your relationship, you will need to learn how to embrace the fact that your partner is different than you are. It is a special type of relationship when you can both acknowledge that you are two different people who respect and love the differences between you. Those differences can turn you into a power couple.
4. You learn what it feels like to be hurt. Everyone makes mistakes, even in loving and romantic relationships. There will be times that your partner says or does something that digs right into your soul. You may surprise yourself with what situations hurt you the most. Hopefully, your relationship is one where you feel like you can communicate to your partner what hurt you. From there it’s important to make a plan on how to continue on together without having those same issues arise.
5. You learn how to forgive. This may be one of the biggest factors in maintaining romantic relationships. Holding grudges and hostility towards your significant other will surely send the relationship into a downward spiral. Communication is key to making sure you feel heard and your feelings validated. When you feel like you have achieved that, you need to learn how to forgive. Use these situations as a learning lesson for the future. You and your partner can both benefit from this and it will deepen the love that you have for each other.
6. You learn how to truly be happy. There is nothing better than having someone as your best friend, lover, and life partner. Romantic relationships aren’t everything, of course, but being emotionally and physically connected to someone is a feeling that cannot be topped. It is a lot of work from both partners but the feeling of being truly loved, validated, respected, and valuable, will lead you to endless amounts of happiness and joy.