What first comes to your mind when you think about a relationship? A night out, candlelight dinner, sex, or a long drive? But you would agree that a relationship needs much more to be successful, and a toxic relationship can have adverse effects on your mental and physical health, as well as devastating effects on your overall wellbeing.
But you need to understand and would agree that one has to work towards having a successful relationship, embrace disagreements, and accept conflicts amongst one another to have a happy, successful relationship. One must also understand that the appearance of a good relationship would be different for different people, as people have different needs. Lets go through what it takes and what obstructions one has to face when building up a good healthy relationship.
Everything changes with time, and so do opinions, expectations, and the overall outlook towards life. We need to understand that what was loved five years back might not be appreciated today. So the secret of brain function in Love is dont be rigid and be open to change. If your partner says that he gets irritated with something he liked five years back, be ok with that.(Millar, K.U. and Tesser, A., 1988)
As humans, our expectations grow incredibly if they are fulfilled beforehand. This does not mean that you expect more. Remember, a relationship is more about giving rather than taking, and to maintain a healthy relationship, this is a crucial point one should bear in mind.
Every relationship to be successful needs open communication.
Talk to your partner. It is just not knowing the choices, likes, or dislikes of your partner. You cant read his or her mind. Effective communication reduces misunderstanding, hurt, anger, and resistance to doing or not doing something.
Different people have different ways to communicate, and one might not be open to dialogues easily. This might cause strain in the relationship. Effective communication needs a lot of skills, practice, and patient perseverance.(Fitzpatrick, M.A., 1977)
Others might have good communication and connection with their partner and be happy in their lives. But communication is not that easy, and the absence of it may cause complicities.
Identify some difficulties that are not easily solved. Not all disagreements can be managed with the help of dialogues. We all are different people, and our values, beliefs, habits vary and may not always align.
Communication goes a great way in helping you agree with each other and address matters, but some things are deeply implanted and may not change. It is necessary to decide what you can accept or when a relationship is no longer healthy for you.
Communicating effectively, openly, and transparently is challenging for many. Some people cannot share easily and need encouragement to express their views before a third person. However, these people might be gifted with the ability to good listening and understand the other persons situation. They may be from those whose action speaks louder than words.(Gudykunst, W.B. and Nishida, T., 2001)
Intimacy does not necessarily mean a sexual relationship. It includes sharing feelings and thoughts with your partner.
Communication is a crucial part of any relationship and does not only include verbal communication, it also includes your gestures, behavior, and your ability to make feel the other person positive and wanted always.(Kalin, J., 1976)
