What are some keys to a healthy relationship? If you look closely at successful relationships you’ll realize many of them have certain things in common. Here’s a list of a few things to strive for in your relationship, so you know what to look for:
# EmpathyAn individual’s ability to empathize with you is crucial in a relationship. Empathy is an important relationship skill that both parties should develop. Empathy is the ability to view the world from your partner’s eyes. Being able to put yourself in your partner’s shoes is essential to building a long term relationship based on mutual understanding. Empathy means being a team, a “we” rather than an isolated “I”.
# AcceptanceYour partner should be able to “get” you. They should know your tastes, your likes, your dislikes, your moods, your innate personality — they should know that “real” you, and love you for being exactly who you are. Acceptance is a key relationship skill. Both you and your partner should accept one another for exactly the people that you are, faults and all. Your partner should love you because of everything that comprises who you are. Don’t accept any less.
# ChemistryPhysical chemistry is important. While it may not be the most important thing on this list, healthy relationships require attraction as a force. You and your partner ought to be attracted to one another, physically and emotionally, and that attraction should lead to a healthy level of chemistry that can be sustained over time.
# SteadfastnessYour partner should be steadfast with you
in promises and obligations. With you, your partner should be able to
keep his or her word. Steadfastness leads to trust, which is absolutely
essential in healthy, long-term relationships. If your partner isn’t
steadfast with you, then you have little reason to grow trust with this
person. Do not become intimately involved with someone who cannot keep
their word.
# GoalsIt is important that you and your partner support each others’ goals in life. Relationships take constant work and require that you and your partner have a willingness to work together and grow together. Your partner should support and help you reach the goals you want in your life.
# GenerosityYour partner should be generous with you, not in the financial sense, but in the emotional sense. Most importantly, your partner ought to be generous with time, when it comes to you. An essential aspect of relationships is the ability to “give”. If you notice that your partner takes and takes without giving, perhaps it’s time to find a new partner. Generosity is the essence of healthy relationships.