No two couples are alike and there’s no one right way to be in love. After all, a relationship is made up of two unique individuals with their own personalities, interests, and baggage, and combining those dynamics creates a whole new scenario that’s different from any other. However, there are certain things healthy relationships have in common. Here are just a few of them.
- Mutual respect There’s no way you can have a happy, healthy relationship without respect – that’s a common thread in every one. You should respect your partner’s individuality, the life they had before they met you and continue to maintain outside of your relationship, as well as their decisions, thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Of course, it goes without saying that they should offer you the same in return.
- Honesty Sometimes, especially in a long-term relationship, lying is just easier. Unfortunately, it doesn’t bode well for the two of you as a couple. Even when it would be more convenient or less stressful to fudge the truth, one of the biggest things healthy relationships have in common is the commitment to honesty. Your partner is an adult and so are you. That means you should be able to say what’s on your mind without fear of guilt-tripping, dramatics, manipulation, or any other immature, toxic behavior.
- Communication as a priority Sometimes life throws some serious BS your way and it’s easy to retreat to deal with things on your own time and in your own way. However, if that leads to a decrease in communication with your partner, there’s going to be trouble. Couples in healthy relationships have a common belief that it’s extremely important to talk it out, whatever “it” is. After all, you can’t fix an issue if you never talk about it, right?
- Individuality and Independence Just because you’re part of a couple doesn’t mean you’re no longer an individual. You’re not just such-and-such’s partner, you’re still your own unique person with your own life and things you want to accomplish. People in healthy relationships recognize the other’s individuality and don’t try to stifle it or change it in any way.
- Trust A relationship without trust is doomed to fail. Why would you want to be with someone that you didn’t think you could rely on? Healthy relationships also include a healthy amount of trust – trust that the other person will do the right thing, that they won’t do anything to purposely hurt you, and that they’ll respect your connection. Without that, it’s just not worth it.
