There’s no such thing as a perfect relationship, but there is such a thing as a healthy one. No one is happy and elated all the time, no one agrees on everything, everyone argues once in a while. It’s normal, we’re all human, we have opinions and passions and emotions and sometimes they take control over common sense. But what is the line between being opinionated and being rude? How do you know if your partner is looking out for you or actually being controlling? Are you being too emotional and sensitive or are you being manipulated, gaslighted and made to feel crazy? Healthy relationships, in general, are those that make you feel better about yourself and your life and make you happy (not all the time but most of the time at least). Healthy relationships make you want to be your best self. Let’s talk about signs that you’re in a healthy relationship.
1. You Trust Each Other
Trust is the most important thing in any relationship. Without it, you’re doomed. If you find that you trust your partner with your life and you never second guess if they feel the same way about you – congratulations, you’ve got the most important thing covered.
2. You Crack Each Other Up
Making each other laugh is also a great sign of a healthy relationship. If you have a similar sense of humor and tons of inside jokes and you just crack up at the same things – it’s a really good sign. What’s even better is knowing how to laugh at silly disagreements or mistakes you might’ve made instead of getting angry with each other.
3. You Feel Free To Share Opinions
You don’t worry about what you have to say and don’t think twice before sharing your opinions because you know they will understand and won’t judge you. You also don’t have to pick your words carefully because you have nothing bad to say and even if you phrase something wrong they’ll know what you meant.
4. An Arguments Isn’t The End Of The World
You can’t agree on everything, so it’s normal to argue. But the important distinction is that your arguments don’t last ages and rarely blow out of proportion because you’re both willing to listen and take a step back and see that there’s a possibility the other one might be right. And possibly most importantly you know that every fight doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the relationship, you recognize that this is just disagreement and these things happen
5. You’re Willing To Let Things Go
When you do have arguments and feelings get hurt you don’t hold on to that hurt for long. You’re willing to accept apologies and let go and move on. You don’t hold grudges for weeks to come and you don’t use past mistakes over each other’s heads.
6. You Can Be Vulnerable With Each Other
You’re not afraid to show your flaws or insecurities with your partner. Even if you don’t like certain things about yourself, think you’ve put on a couple of pounds or have a scar you think isn’t great – you know that they won’t judge you or think less of you because of those things. You know you can be vulnerable and you won’t get hurt. Same goes for emotional vulnerability.
7. You Don’t Secretly Hope They Will Change
It’s a good sign if you’re not trying to change them and it’s an even better one if you don’t want them to change. Thoughts like “maybe one day they’ll become neater” or “maybe one day they’ll grow up and act more like an adult” and “maybe one day they’ll stop drinking” don’t even cross your mind.
8. You Feel Good When You’re Apart
That’s right, people in healthy relationships don’t live their life joined at the hip. Spending time apart is ok, hanging out with friends is great and even going on trips separately is absolutely fine. And while you do it you should enjoy yourself, not worry about the other person or feel bad about being without them.
9. You Accept Each Other’s Past
We all have past relationships, exes, and just weird mistakes we’ve made ages ago and now have to live with. You can try to fix the things that are fixable but at some point, it’s important to accept it and move on. And the same goes for your partner’s past. A good sign of a healthy relationship is accepting that life didn’t just start when you two met and that things happened in the past, but that’s where they will stay and you live in the present.
10. You Make Sure To Show Your Love And Appreciation
It’s important to not take people for granted and show them with words, actions and sometimes little gifts that you love and appreciate them for who they are and what you’re happy you two get to be together in this relationship.