Healthy relationships take time, energy and patience

Great relationships don’t happen by accident.

The first step towards building a healthy relationship is getting to know your partner and more importantly yourself at a deeper level. Before you start looking for reasons why your relationship seems to be less love and more pain, you must clearly figure out your expectations from the relationship and priorities in life. Most conflicts arise when your subjective expectations and your partner’s actions fail to match. You must give your partner the freedom to exist as a unique individual and not simply as an extension of yourself.

When two people choose to be in a relationship, their combined happiness should double. If you are not mentally, emotionally and spiritually at peace from within, no matter what your partner does, there will always be conflicts in a relationship. If you expect your relationship to be as “perfect” as they are often portrayed on movies, TV shows and social media, you will find flaws in your partner and your relationships

When things get tough, remember why chose to be in a relationship in the first place. Your team work should make it easy to build a more joyful life together. Most conflicts in a relationship are a reflection of the connection between you and your partner. Many times, the arguments are just simple excuses to express your innermost frustrations from life due to unfulfilled expectations. Take a deep breath and evaluate why certain things upset you in a relationship. You must develop clarity about your own subjective expectations and try to view them objectively from your partner’s perspective.

The more you try to control someone’s thoughts, words or actions, the more you will push them away. When you and your partner reach a deeper level of connection, you will effortlessly put your relationship before your individual self. You will willingly let go of what is causing conflicts and hold on to what is truly important in your relationship.

At the end of the day, there are no universal solutions that can be applied to every single relationship. Each couple must go through their own journey to find their own secret formula for a joyful relationship.