12 Signs You’re In A Healthy Relationship

A romantic relationship between two people is unlike any other in life. You can have multiple friends and colleagues, but you can (or should) only have one “significant other.” This is why they have such a vague but powerful title. Though comparing yourself to other couples is a recipe for disaster, it’s important to understand the characteristics of a healthy relationship. We all get rose-colored glasses when we fall in love (no idea who ships these things, but everyone gets them) so here are some aspects of healthy relationships so you can anchor your perceptions in reality.

1. You Can Speak Your Mind Freely

And you can do it without fear. This is a great sign that your relationship is healthy and happy enough to last. Few things are more stressful and emotionally damaging than having to walk on eggshells with your SO. Living together only compounds this.

2. You Have Space To Be Yourself

Personal space is not just a physical social expectation but a psychological necessity. Everyone knows the couple who seems to consume one another by avoiding old hobbies and friends to be together every. single. minute. This is obviously not healthy and not sustainable either. Why the clinging? It’s a sign of insecurity. When you can be away from each other without anxiety, things are good!

3. You Make Decisions Together

Fair and balanced is the name of the game. If you’re both transparent with one another about finances, fears and feelings, you’re likely to have that bond that rolls with the punches. They say the greatest strength is in flexibility, and being honest with one another is the greatest way to establish elasticity in your relationship. Making decisions together keeps you both on the same page so you’ve always got each other’s back.

4. You Fight And Make Up Before Nightfall

Remember when your mother would say, “Be home before the street lights come on”? This is true for your relationships too. Disagreements, even heated ones, are healthy and necessary because life is not always peaches and rainbows. The important part is working through it. You both care about each other and about staying together, so forgive each other before heading to bed. If you two don’t go to bed angry, your chances of lasting increase tremendously.

5. You Trust Each Other Without “Checking”

If you’ve been with your partner long enough to have established a sense of their “usual” behavior, mannerisms and body language, you should feel like you can trust that person. When you’re in a healthy relationship, you should lose that urge to “check” on them. This is a point at which you should assess yourself and make sure your perception is well-calibrated to reality.

6. You Let Things Go

If it’s not all that important in the larger scheme of things and you drop it, you’re probably in a healthy relationship. A degree of easygoing-ness is elemental in that flexibility thing we discussed earlier.

7. Your Relationship Is Your Safe Zone

This comes with the trust part. It’s amazing for your personal health, which is why it’s part of a healthy relationship. When you can come home, take a deep breath, and know at least one person in this world is on your side, you’re luckier than most of us out there. As long as your partner can do the same with you, things are looking good.

8. You Keep Your Issues Between The Two Of You

When you and your partner are having a problem, it can feel like you’re alone in your opinion because the only other person involved disagrees. If you choose to go to your friends to vent, you may feel better temporarily, but you’ve done your relationship a massive disservice. Your friends are going to take your side more often than not, which will only drive you further from compromise. Healthy couples take a break from the discussion and revisit it together when things have cooled down.

9. “Leaving” Is Not In Your Relationship Vocabulary

No matter how bitter the fight or how “right” you are, healthy couples never bring their relationship’s end into the conversation. Don’t say it, don’t even think it. This is not to say that you’re necessarily going to stay together forever, but it does mean that you respect your relationship enough to not use “leaving” as ammunition in an argument.

10. VIP Status

In healthy relationships, both partners put each other first. This does not mean abandoning the rest of society, but simply standing up for your partner when the world thinks they’re wrong. Later, in private, you can open up about how much you agree with the world and SO needs to do the changing. As long as the world knows you’re a unified front, ya’ll can work things out together on the DL.

11. No Cheating, No Lies, No Abuse

Not to get dark here, but this simply must be included. Love does not hurt. Loneliness hurts. Betrayal hurts. Love does not hurt and if it looks like love and hurts, it’s not love.

12. “I Love You” | “Thank You” | “I’m Sorry”

The absence of these three short statements has ended marriages, and yet we all know what they mean and how to pronounce them. People need to hear you say these things with their own eardrums. No matter how much you think this stuff, saying it makes all the difference.

H/T: Diply