People in Healthy Relationships Have These 6 Traits
We all have certain things we're looking for in a relationship.
A sense of humor, an ambitious personality, similar music taste—there are thousands of qualities you can search for in a potential romantic partner. But have you ever thought about the characteristics that would make you a desirable S.O.?
While you should always be true to who you are, some qualities are worth mimicking. If you want to be the best S.O. you can be, keep scrolling for the six traits that are common of people in healthy relationships.
Kindness
A truly healthy relationship starts with someone who's just plain kind. However, kindness is more than just a polite nature. Kind people are generous and considerate to those around them. They're not pushovers, but they do think of other people's needs instead of selfishly forging ahead with what they want. Cultivating a sense of kindness will make you a thoughtful and attentive romantic partner who will be compassionate to your S.O.'s needs, even if you don't always understand them. When you can care for your partner unconditionally, you'll be much more equipped to create a sense of safety and security in your romance—a key tenet of a healthy relationship.
Understanding
In addition to being kind, people in healthy relationships are also particularly understanding. Everyone makes mistakes—it's just a part of living. Chances are both you and your partner will have plenty of blunders in your romance, which is why understanding is so important. Understanding allows you to be tolerant of your partner's flaws. You can be sympathetic to their mistakes and forgiving of their shortcomings. However, understanding also means that you can recognize the parts of your relationship that can't be fixed, allowing you to decide if your S.O. is the right person for you. By being understanding, you can help your partner improve and you can simultaneously protect your own heart, effectively keeping you both out of a toxic relationship.
Loyalty
Loyalty is a given for most romantic relationships. After all, no one's looking for a partner who's going to cheat on them. However, loyalty goes far beyond simply staying faithful to your S.O. Cultivating loyalty means building yourself into a dependable and reliable partner, in all aspects of your relationship. It means standing by your partner's decisions and supporting them in the things that are important to them. It's okay to insert your own opinion and to disagree with your S.O., but you shouldn't make them feel that the two of you are on opposing sides. Loyalty is about being on the same team as your partner, ultimately creating a romance in which you can truly depend on one another.
Openness
Even though it's mentioned less often than other traits, openness is a very attractive quality in a relationship. More than that, it's essential to building a truly healthy romance. Openness is the ability to be candid with your partner about what you're feeling, both good and bad. Whatever's on your mind, you're willing to say it out loud, eliminating the annoying guessing games that often accompany relationships. When you're open with your partner, you're building an important line of communication that allows you both to be honest about your feelings. Given all those benefits, it's easy to see why openness is an essential trait of people in healthy relationships.
Integrity
In order to be in a successful relationship, you have to know what you value. Otherwise, you'll never be able to judge if you and your partner are really right for one another. Integrity is often used as synonymous with honesty, but it goes one step further. It also means standing up for your values.
Integrity is an essential relationship trait for a variety of reasons. For one, it does demand that you be truthful with your partner. But it also demands that you stand up for yourself and what you believe in, ensuring that you're never giving up essential parts of who you are for someone else. Sometimes relationships require bending, and other times you're meant to hold firm—cultivating integrity allows you to decide which course of action is most appropriate.
Independence
Although it sounds counterintuitive to think that independence is an essential trait of a healthy relationship, it's equally as important as anything else on this list. Being independent means that you're able to rely on yourself and make your own decisions. What's more, it also means you're capable of existing outside of your partner, instead of allowing your relationship to turn you both into one homogenous blob. Being your own person takes a massive amount of pressure off of your relationship. In addition, it ensures that you still have your own personality and interests, which is an attractive attribute in any romance.
Looking for more dating advice? Click HERE for seven signs you're trying to rush your relationship.