What does a healthy relationship even look like?

“A healthy relationship will never require you to sacrifice your friends, your dreams, or your dignity.” -Mandy Hale

From a young age we are taught by our family, friends, and teachers to do so many things: read and write, ride a bike, cook a meal; however, we are never really taught what a healthy relationship looks like, or how to be a good partner. For some reason, this is something we are expected to just know, or at least know how to figure out. But I’m not sure it’s quite that easy, or that different from any of the other things we have to learn in life. Sometimes, we need someone to talk to us and teach us about what a healthy relationship looks like, so that we can build healthy relationships in our own lives, identify our own and others’ potentially unhealthy behaviors, and know when we are in unhealthy or even abusive relationships.

Some key characteristics and pillars of healthy relationships are open communication, boundaries, respect, power balance, autonomy, honesty, and trust. You and your partner should always feels comfortable about talking freely and honestly, and setting boundaries, whether that be about how much you text or whether you are comfortable having sex. Sometimes, when we are in relationships, we can lose ourselves in the other person. This is something to be thoughtful of and watch out for, as it is not particularly healthy. Both members in a relationship should continue to have a life, have friendships, and do activities outside of the relationship. Any relationship that requires you to sacrifice the things you enjoy doing or the friendships you have, is a relationship that is likely not worth continuing. Trust is another huge component of healthy relationships. Jealousy in small amounts is normal, but in general, your partner should trust you, and likewise, you should trust them. If this is not the case, it may be time to take a closer look at your relationship.

With all of this in mind, I challenge you to reflect on the relationships in your life, whether they be platonic or romantic, and consider whether they are healthy or unhealthy. No relationship is perfect, but when the bad outweighs the good, it is time to take a closer look and ask yourself “Is this a relationship I want to continue? Is it good for me?”

Until Next Time,

Lindsey