1. Being Inseparable
The desire to spend lots of time together at the start of a relationship is at an all-time high, and that’s totally understandable. Problems start to arise when that’s maintained permanently throughout the relationship, when you stop hanging out with friends and depend entirely on your partner to make plans. Spending time apart and doing things separately is not only normal but healthy and important, and also a lot more realistic than being stuck to your partner’s side 24/7.
2. Never disagreeing
Couples who don’t fight often see this as a good thing, but it’s not necessarily the case. Explosive conflict is not healthy, but no conflict at all isn’t healthy either. Arguments and disagreements are an inevitable part of life, especially relationships, and letting out anger in a mindful and productive way is more conducive to a relationship than not letting it out at all.
3. Connecting only through sex
Having a healthy sex life has loads of positives, but sex and related activities shouldn’t be the basis of your relationship, or rather the basis of your way of communicating with your partner. While lots of sex seems great at first, it’s crucial for your relationship to develop other, stronger ways of communicating, and to not rely on just the fun stuff to get you through tricky times.
4. Obsessing over their social media
You might scoff at this one, but how many times have you secretly stalked your partner’s social pages to see what they’re up to? Being curious about their profiles is fine and normal, but being fixated isn’t, and you should be able to trust and be open enough with you partner on their whereabouts to know what’s happening.
5. Avoiding money talks
Financial conversations are often the toughest to have – everyone is sensitive about how much they earn, save and spend, and discussing these issues with a long-term partner can be uncomfortable and stressful. But, if you think avoiding the topic altogether and letting things continue as they are is a good idea, well, it’s not. If you’re planning on sticking together for the long-haul, you need to be in the know about your finances, and plan a shared financial future together.
6. Sharing everything
Honesty is always the best policy, but there is a difference between being honest for the better of your relationship and being brutally honest in a way that is critical or difficult for your partner to absorb. Be open and honest for your partner to get to know the real you, which often requires careful consideration, rather than saying whatever pops into your head.
7. Jealousy
How many times have we thought that jealousy is a form of flattery? At a certain point in a relationship, it’s no longer healthy for jealousy to occupy a place, and starts to reveal darker qualities which need to be dealt with, such as possessiveness and insecurity.