All of us have a few bad habits that we don’t realize.Sometimes, these habits could be silly or cute.But at most other times, these subconscious bad habits could end up hurting you or distancing you from the one you love.When you fall in love with someone, you can’t see their bad habits, at least not until you’re past the stage of infatuation.
And likewise, your partner won’t see the bad in you because they’re so smitten by you and your love for them.But once the rose tinted veil of infatuation sweeps past your eyes, it’s only then that the nagging habits start to reveal themselves.
# Taken for granted
You know your partner’s sweet and caring. And you love them for it. But do you remember to appreciate your partner and thank them for all the little things they do, be it finding your keys or opening the doors for you?
You may think it’s silly to constantly thank your partner for every little thing they do. But chances are, you may start taking these sweet gestures for granted even before you realize it, and they’d turn into expectations instead!
# Lover pleaserYou try really hard to please your partner, but you get really upset when your partner doesn’t realize you’ve done something for them. And yet, you continue to do nice things for them all the time *which they take for granted* and eventually turn into a relationship martyr.
If your partner takes you for granted, talk to them about it. Bottling your rage or sadness will not help you. Perhaps, your partner didn’t even realize that you’ve done something sweet for them. Communicate and express yourself now and then, and stop trying to be a helpless people pleaser.
# Testing your partnerYou intentionally make big demands or throw tantrums just to see if your partner cares enough to go the extra mile for you. These petty tests are rather common at the start of a new relationship when you’d want your lover to prove their love for you, but don’t carry this habit into the later stages of love or your constant games and tests would annoy your lover.
# Blame games
Don’t put the fault entirely on your partner if you believe you have a small role to play too. It’s easy to point a finger and accuse your partner for the mess that both of you are in. But by doing that, your partner would feel cornered and helpless, and even angry and hurt.
On the other hand, by sharing the blame or acknowledging your role in the mistake, you’d be giving your partner the emotional support they so badly need at that moment.
# Silent treatmentDo you choose to ignore your partner instead of talking about something that’s hurt you? You’re not alone. Many men and women would rather sit down in the corner and stare at the ceiling than answer their partner when they’re annoyed for some reason. Never do that because you’d only end up hurting your partner, make them feel miserable, and hate you at the same time.
# Unbalanced expectationsDo you have high expectations from your partner, and expect them to have lower expectations from you *because you’re too busy providing for the family or busy doing something else?*
The roles between a husband and a wife or a boyfriend and a girlfriend could be different, but that gives no right for one partner to demand more from the other partner, and give less in return.
# MonosyllablesDon’t answer in monosyllables in the middle of a conversation. Period. Answering with a ‘yes’, ‘no’ or an ‘hmmm’ is just a rude thing to do, even if you’re pretending to be concentrating on something else.
When your partner tries to communicate with you, try to answer back in open ended questions. It’ll help both of you interact better and understand each other better. You need to remember that conversations with monosyllables usually end up dead in a minute or two, and over a period of time, your monosyllabic answers would just push both of you apart.
# Don’t be a bratDo you constantly like having things your way? It could be as silly as watching a genre of movies you enjoy or dining out at places that you like. Your partner may find your tantrums cute to begin with, but if you always want things your own way, there will come a time very soon when your partner would snap and just hate everything you like because they’re so sick of it!