How to Create and Maintain Healthy Relationships

Having healthy relationships can be very beneficial to both parties. This article provides you with tips on maintaining a healthy and happy relationship with someone, whether it be a friend, family member, or partner.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Evaluate the potential friend/partner! While it is important for you to make effort of creating a healthy relationship, it is important for the other person to do the same. If you take steps to maintain a healthy relationship, but the other person does not, you may find yourself ignored, neglected, or taken advantage of. In such a case, why make the effort if the other person doesn't?

2. Get to know the person! It's good to know the little detail; such as their likes/dislikes, interests, hobbies, etc. By knowing these things, you can better find common interests you can discuss or plan activities around. They can also come in handy later on down the road when you want to surprise the other person or show your appreciation for them.

3. Be respectful! A general rule of thumb is to treat others they way you want to be treated and one thing that people want is to be respected. Always be respectful about your friend/partner's wishes. If your friend/partner needs some alone time, give it to them. If there are certain habits you have that might make the other person uncomfortable, try to avoid doing those things around them.

4. Be selfish, but be giving! We all need to be a little bit selfish at times. If we put all of our focus into others, we neglect and fail to pamper ourselves, which I personally believe to be a requirement. However, there are limits. As stated before, it takes two to form a healthy relationship, so while you should pamper yourself, take the time to pamper the other person as well.

5. Always communicate! Communication is essential to any relationship. It helps you to get to know the person, break down barriers, and resolve any concerns or conflicts. If you don't communicate with your friend/partner about a concern you are having, you run the risk of the situation becoming worse, which can lead to a damaged relationship. Never bottle up a problem...always talk to the other person about it.

6. Be open to compromise! When you communicate an issue to a friend/partner, you may find that the other person sees it differently or has something else in mind. Lay out your thoughts about the situation and then allow the other person to do so. Once all opinions are on the table, try to work out some sort of agreement that both of you can be happy with.

7. Tell the truth! Another essential to any relationship is trust. Lying to a friend/partner can lead that person to feel betrayed and become suspicious, which are emotions that can damage a relationship in the long run. Of course, there may be exceptions at times (such as planning a surprise birthday party), but for the most part, always be honest with your friend/partner. If it is something that you want to keep personal then tell them exactly that (although this should only be restricted to things that don't affect the other person...if it involves them, you should talk to them about it).

8. Own up to your mistakes! When you make a mistake that hurts your friend/partner's feelings, admit to it and apologize. Playing the blame game can be frustrating and can lead the other person to feel as though you don't care about his/her feelings. It's perfectly alright to state your case, but offer it up as a reason and not an excuse. If you feel it is a perfectly valid excuse, then talk about it more with the other person (communication is key!).

9. Handle fights wisely! Never, under any circumstances, inflict physical or mental abuse on your friend/partner. Likewise, don't ever take that kind of treatment from anyone else. If you find yourself in an argument and anger seems to be ruling you or the other person, then tell your friend/partner that it will just have to be handled when the two of you have cooled off and walk away. This saves you from saying or doing hurtful things in the heat of the moment.

10. Give each other some space when warranted! When you have a great relationship with someone, it is fine to spend a lot of time together. However, do spend a little time apart. If you spend all your time together, you could potentially run out of things to talk about, fail to take care of other commitments, neglect other friends, or basically just get sick of each other (sounds harsh, but it does happen). Additionally, by spending time apart, you can come to learn how much you appreciate the other person, which helps you to avoid taking them for granted.

11. Do activities together that you enjoy! This is a good way to keep each other entertained while spending time together. You can also do this in a variety of ways; such as making plans with your friend/partner, being spontaneous, or surprising the other person (ask them to take a ride with you and then take them some place they have wanted to go).

12. Show some love! Do little things that show your friend/partner how much you appreciate them. It can put a smile on their face and assure them that they do have folks around who care. You can do this in a variety of ways; even something as simple as a quick e-mail saying you are happy to have them in your life can do the trick.