Happy relationships need certain ingredients to take their astronomical awesomeness to the next level. The right mixture of ingredients will push you and your significant other to a level above your satisfied and content states. Without these 9 qualities, you’ll likely crash and burn. With them, you won’t just be happy, you’ll be over the moon in love (and that’s putting it lightly).
- Humor. If you’re in a relationship with no laughter, then that union is cold and dead… just like your dreams and the plants you neglect. What’s the point of staying together if you guys don’t laugh anymore? A sense of humor is like engine oil for your relationship — it keeps things running smoothly and clears away nasty debris. Laughter takes power away from a lot of bad things. Being able to sit back together and laugh at the world with a lighthearted outlook will keep you going strong.
- Trust. An enormous weight will be lifted off your shoulders when you trust one another. You can relax. You don’t have to worry about infidelity, financial discord or other BS because you are confident in the decisions you make together and separately. Mutual trust creates a warm, fuzzy cornucopia of happiness that you can bask in every day. Who doesn’t like cornucopias of happiness? No one.
- Self- Awareness. Being aware of your own behavior and how others perceive you will get you far in life. When you’re not oblivious to how you act, you can keep yourself in check and you’ll be much more perceptive to your partner’s behavior as well. Being in sync with each other like that will make your lives much easier. Plus, you can creep all your friends out with your robot-like relationship efficacy.
- Situational awareness. Knowing when to be serious or goofy is a very valuable trait to have. Being serious all the time is a huge, steaming pile of infectious buzzkill, but being goofy all the time will make you look immature and/or unstable. Happy relationships need two people who know how to handle certain situations in the best ways, not two lunatics who are incapable of understanding where certain behavior belongs.
- Adventure. If things get stale, your relationship will fail. “Adventure” doesn’t have to mean expensive trips to the other side of the world, it just means a fun break from routine every now and then. Sinking deeper and deeper into your couch every night will propel you so far away from “thriving” that the Hubble Space Telescope won’t even be able to see you. Adventure won’t happen on its own. It takes effort and desire from both of you to put things into motion and keep your relationship exciting.
- Intimacy. Thriving relationships need thriving genitals that see each other often. In short: have sex with each other. Often. Hugs are good, too. That is all.
- Compatible goals. Having different goals in life isn’t a bad thing, but having goals that clash with one another can lead to problems. Your goals are indicative of who you are as a person, and if your goals require more sacrifice than compromise, you two may be fundamentally incompatible. Goals that coexist peacefully will allow you and your partner to live the same way.
- Time apart. Spending some time away from each other isn’t going to damage anything. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and perverted desires grow stronger. If you’re capable of thriving separately, you will definitely thrive together in more ways than one.
- Solid friends. Every happy relationship needs a great group of friends. Friends call you out on all your crap and push you to be the best person and the most competitive drinker you can be. They absorb a disturbing amount of your insanity so your significant other doesn’t have to weather that storm alone. Without them, you’d be crazy alone, and no one wants to be crazy alone. Spending time with them makes you happy. The happier you are, the healthier your relationship will be.
