Is your relationship making you unhappy? If you feel content and positive, it is likely you are in a happy and healthy relationship. However, sometimes relationships can turn sour and you can be left with no idea what to do, or who to turn to.
Here’re seven reasons why some relationships just don’t work.
1. They have a relationship checklist.
While it is important to learn what you like and dislike in a relationship, a great relationship is based in the heart rather than the mind. Creating a list of qualities a partner must have leads to high expectations and demands, and often takes away a lot of surprise and fun. Believe in your intuition and get rid of the list.
2. They are overly critical to each other.
Honesty is important in a relationship, but being with someone who is extremely critical can lower your self-esteem and make you feel depressed. Critical behaviour includes insulting your weight, height, appearance, friends, style or job, while making you feel worthless. Ask yourself: are these comments honest, or unnecessary?
3. They don’t deal with jealousy.
Relationships should be supportive and loving. However, jealousy can often rear its ugly head in relationships. Some of the main warning signs are: acting irrationally angry when the other person receives good news, such as making a new friend or finding a job, demanding to know personal or private information, being angry if their partner talks to the opposite sex, or irrationally accusing them of lying or cheating.
4. They think that honesty is not important.
Telling a white lie won’t end a relationship, but dishonesty about important issues shows a lack of respect for your partner’s feelings. Continued dishonestly leads to mistrust, upset and anger, so it is important to be open during difficult times. In a strong relationship, you should be able to say yes to both of these questions: do I trust my partner to be honest? Can my partner expect the same of me?
5. They blame each other unfairly.
Blaming someone constantly and without reason is emotional abuse, and often the person being blamed starts to believe they are in the wrong, making them feel guilty and upset for not thinking themselves “good enough.” It is important (and emotionally mature) to take responsibility for our own actions, and to treat the person you are in a relationship with respectfully.
6. They are emotionally immature.
Relationship maturity doesn’t come with age; it is a willingness to work at a relationship, accept blame, and compromise. Beware of starting a relationship with someone who gets angry over nothing. At the beginning of a relationship, most people try their hardest to avoid fights, so be aware of how they behave in certain situations, or how they treat other people. Sometimes emotionally immature people are willing to learn how to mature and grow, but be careful, pushing or forcing someone to change is also immature.
7. They just want to control each other.
Being in a relationship with someone who is controlling is often emotionally exhausting. Trying to please a controlling person is difficult, as they often want you to live life by their rules, not your own, which can leave you feeling unfulfilled. Watch out for these signs: they tell you how to dress or act, they check your phone or emails, they show up at your home without being invited and they may go through your belongings without permission.
What else can stop relationships from working? Comment with your ideas below!
Featured photo credit: Young Couple Man and Woman Hugging in Love Romantic Outdoor with forest nature on background Fashion trendy style via shutterstock.com
