September 20, 2022
Our relationships are some of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of life. Finding someone you want to share your life with is a beautiful thing. Falling in love feels magical.
In fact, falling in love has real health benefits and has an impact on our bodies and our minds. Around 87% of Americans believe in true love, which is promising!
But contrary to popular belief, love is not all you need. Relationships take a lot more than love to keep them going and love alone won’t keep a couple together.
Successful relationships takea lot of work to keepboth people happy and healthy. Read on for 7 things more important than love that you need to know to make your relationship work.
1. Trust
One of the most important parts of a relationship is to trust one another completely. You have to be able to trust that they won’t stray and you trust them with your feelings.
You have to trust each other enough to be vulnerable on an emotional and physical level, too. A trusting relationship isn’t built overnight though, it takes time to grow.
If you’re at the beginning of a relationship and the trust isn’t all there, give it time to grow. But if you’re in a long-term relationship and still don’t trust your partner, it’s not a good sign.
2. Vulnerability
Speaking of vulnerability, that’s the next one on this list. Vulnerability is important in a relationship and it’s beautiful with the right partner.
Opening up to your partner without fear of judgment is amazing. They get to know you better and it can strengthen your relationship. If you don’t allow vulnerability, your relationship will suffer.
Your partner may feel that you don’t trust them enough to let them in. They may feel shut out and that can be hurtful if they’re vulnerable with you.
Don’t bottle it up. Open up and let vulnerability transform your relationship!
3. Communication
Communication, communication, communication. This is one of the most important aspects of a relationship, but so many couples struggle with it.
There are many things in a relationship you can solve with effective communication. You need it to set boundaries, to solve problems, express feelings, and more.
There are some aspects of a relationship that some people can find hard to talk about, like sex for example. But proper communication allows you to identify problems and come up with solutions.
4. Honesty
In a similar vein to trust, honesty is a huge factor in any relationship. Telling lies or hiding the truth from your partner can destroy your relationship.
If there isn’t honesty in a relationship, it’s pretty much doomed. If there are a lot of little lies or a huge secret in the way, the truth will come out in the end. It will hurt your partner and it could end the relationship.
Whatever it may be, you have to respect your partner enough to be honest with them. From there, you can work on the relationship, but lies won’t solve anything.
5. Loyalty
A huge pillar of a successful relationship is having loyalty to your partner. You need to be loyal to them and only them as your romantic partner. Unless you’ve both agreed and set boundaries to an open relationship, it’s non-negotiable.
If you can’t stay loyal and faithful to your partner, then ask yourself why you’re with them. Your commitment is paramount and you could cause a lot of pain to them if you’re unfaithful.
If you can’t be loyal to your partner, it’s kinder to end the relationship instead of hurting them further.
6. Respect
Respect is a huge part of any relationship. You need to have the utmost respect for your partner and yourself.
If you’re in a relationship where you feel put down or degraded, your partner doesn’t respect you. You also need to respect yourself enough to leave such a situation.
Both parties need to respect each other’s feelings and boundaries. You need to value and take care of each other in every way you can.
When you respect and love one another, you’ll have a beautiful relationship. This foundation of trust and security is essential and will lead to wonderful things.
7. Affection
At the start of a relationship, you’re all loved up and can’t take your hands off each other. But as time goes on, the affection can dwindle and it’s important to get it back.
It’s the little things like hand holding or random kisses throughout the day. These little actions show your partner that you love and care about them and it means a great deal.
Everyone is affectionate in their own way, so take time to learn each others’ love languages. When you find ways to show each other affection, it shows how much you mean to them and vice versa.
Feeling unappreciated can damage your relationship. Learn how to communicate about bringing affection back and it can make a huge difference.
These Are the Keys to Successful Relationships
Relationships aren’t always easy and to keep them going both partners need to work hard. Love is a huge staple of a relationship but it’s not always enough to keep it strong.
When you look at all the successful relationships in your life and other couples’, you’ll see these 7 things are in each of them.Some of these are harder to work at than others. This is when couples therapy can make a huge difference.
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