Relationships and commitments are a rollercoaster ride. Some of us have had a fair share of the toxic ones that we forget the basic characteristics of a healthy relationship.
Almost all of us have been in relationships or at least one relationship, in our lives. It either didn’t end well or it has been amazing till now. If you have been in a relationship where you invested a lot but the outcomes weren’t as amazing as you had thought they would be; it hurts. It really does hurt and it might ruin your perception of a healthy relationship.
Thus, before you step into another commitment, hold back; sit down and think about what a healthy bond looks like and what it should be bringing to your plate. This will help you understand what you need to look for, while searching for a partner in your life.
What is a healthy relationship?
It is crucial to understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. The value of a strong and peaceful bond is vital to perceive properly, so that you can provide the best to your partner and demand for the right emotions, in return too.
There are different characteristics of a healthy relationship and we have summed up some of the most important ones here. Make sure that you add these to your bond, so that you can flourish a lifetime connection with the person you love. Later on, we will be throwing light on the traits of an unhealthy relationship too so that a comparative situation can help you understand better.
Without any further ado, let’s get into the details. Here are the 8 characteristics of a healthy relationship.
- Communication:
Communication is the key to a healthy and long lasting relationship. Without proper communication, a bond is prone to fail and fall apart. Many relationships seem perfect but what makes them fail is lack of communication.
If you have any misunderstanding; communicate. If you need something from your partner and you feel that your need is not being fulfilled; vocalize it to your better half.
Likewise, share your love for them verbally. Let them know how much they mean for you. If you’re searching for sweet love text that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or share people you care, browse through an amazing collection of good night love message, good morning paragraph and I miss you messages.
If you don’t communicate your feelings to them, your bond will soon start losing its spark. Therefore, always make time, by the end of the day, for sitting together and talking about the day and sharing whatever might have happened at work or home. No matter how tiny the details might be; it will keep your relationship alive.
- Prioritize your Partner:
We all are leading an incredible busy life these days. But one of the most important characteristics of a healthy relationship is prioritizing time for your partner. It is definitely hard to manage everything but if you have the will to do so; you will do it by all means.
Spending quality time together is very crucial. If you don’t give time to your partner, they will start losing interest in you. The energy and spark of the bond will start to die off. To make a relationship last, you need to prioritize your partner. For instance, if you haven’t been able to spend time with your man/woman throughout the week, make a small plan for the weekend. Cook dinner or maybe just plan to sit and watch Netflix together.
- Respect:
Respect is the basic foundation of a healthy and happy relationship. Without respect, love is toxic. It can eat the relationship away within no time. You must respect your partner’s character, space, heart and time. Never say anything that hurts their personality and makes them feel less of an individual. It can leave a negative impact on them and might also shatter their confidence.
Never speak badly to each other or about one another’s family or friends. Likewise, do not over share personal information about your family or friends with your partner. Don’t try to jokingly call names to one another either. Keep a very safe and ethical boundary so that there is no scope of disrespect.
- Forgive:
Relationships are always going to have arguments and fights. There is no bond where there aren’t any problems or even baseless fights do take place. If you keep grudges, your relationship will die fast.
If you are unable to forget something that your partner did or said to you, then the best thing to do is to communicate about it. This takes us back to the first and most important characteristic of a healthy relationship; open and honest communication.
Talk about whatever is bothering you and what would you want to change in the situation. Once you let it out, it will be easier for you to move on. One must have the ability to forget and forgive in a relationship, to make it last longer.
- Honesty:
Honesty is a pillar of strong relationships, be it a love relationship, friendship or your bond with your parents or friends. Honesty is a crucial element of living a peaceful and content life. A liar is always weaving webs of lies which can cause a lot of troubles between partners. And nobody likes a liar anyways.
As communication is the basic trait of a healthy relationship, being dishonest simply puts you into a toxic bond. People who communicate openly and talk about how they feel and what they want with utmost honesty, spend much healthier and happier lives with their partners than people who prefer to lie. Be honest and straightforward and you won’t have any useless troubles.
- Vulnerability:
Being vulnerable is a cruise these days, isn’t it? Today’s society thinks that it is weak to be vulnerable and it simply doesn’t make them “cool”. Love doesn’t require you to be “cool.” it demands you to be vulnerable. It is that vulnerable place in your life where you let your emotions fly freely and it is okay to be in that place now and then.
Many people assume that expressing love is embarrassing or awkward. But this is the essence of keeping a bond alive and strong. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. People who embrace vulnerability in relationships, spend the best times and have long-lasting commitments too. In-expressiveness kills love.
- Mutual Effort:
Consider your relationship like a cycle. If one tyre fails, the other one will hardly take your bicycle forward till a certain extent. It will also require more effort and energy to push the cycle to the workshop, to get it fixed. The person might even get tired of pushing the cycle forward with just one tyre functioning and can give up in the middle of the way too.
This is what happens when there isn’t mutual effort in a relationship. A bond works when two people believe that they want to make things work and they have the capacity to make them work. It functions when two people promise to stick by one another in good and bad times both. All the decisions are made mutually and all problems are solved mutually. Mutual effort is a very important pillar of a healthy relationship and can make bonds flourish incredibly well.
- Emotional Availability:
Physical affection is not the only element that makes one feel special in a relationship. Yes, it is important but if you are not emotionally available for your partner, your physical closeness won’t spark either. An emotionally unavailable person is very annoying and lack of expressions and love is a killer in relationships.
It makes one assume constantly, whether the person is interested in them or not and it can be damaging mentally. A relationship should be a place where one feels at peace and can be transparent with one another. Being emotionally available for your partner is very important for a long lasting relationship.
What makes a relationship unhealthy?
We now know and understand the characteristics of a healthy relationship. However, we must understand what a toxic bond looks like or what characteristics must not be practiced in a healthy commitment.
- Blaming your partner and shaming them is a sign of a toxic relationship. If you both are unable to mutually solve your problems and keep putting the blame on your partner’s shoulder, then you are in a toxic commitment.
- No fun times. Lack of fun is another damaging trait for a relationship. If your partner and you haven’t had fun in a long time; what are you even doing with your life? Once joy is sucked out of a bond; it becomes toxic, dull and unhealthy.
- Breakup threats are a huge sign of toxic relationships. If you or your partner keep using breakup threats to put an end to all conflicts, then you are being toxic for one another. It will make your partner assume that they don’t matter to you and one day, they will simply leave.
CONCLUSION
A healthy relationship is your safe place, comfort zone and your home. It brings a fresh whiff of air into your life. After a long and tiring day, your partner should be your comfort and not your cause of pain. Likewise, you have to be the same person, with the same traits for them too.
With right and open communication, emotional availability, honesty and respect, one can lay the best foundation of their relationships. It is crucial to water your relationship all the time so that it doesn’t wilt and die.
