It’s not exactly top-secret information that relationships take work. Even epic love stories, like Allie and Noah’s from The Notebook, involve effort. Now, we’re not saying every relationship is as fraught as theirs was, but still. You get the point. No matter how much you love someone, you have to put in the work to have a successful relationship. With that in mind, here are six habits that will ruin a relationship.
Things That Will Ruin A Relationship
After years together, it can get easy to just assume your partner will be there to do the dishes/walk the dogs/etc, and you stop saying thank you. It's important in a relationship to stop every once and a while and let them know that you do, in fact, appreciate all the things that they do.
It's better to be open and have a discussion about things that are upsetting you, as opposed to filing away a grudge. It can build up, and lead to an enormous fight or, worse, a breakup.
While it's important to talk about things that bother you (see tip above), it's also important not to be unnecessarily critical of your partner. This is where the practice of "picking your battles" comes in. Think about the things that are bugging you and contemplate what's really behind them before addressing it.
We hate to break it to you, but it's highly unlikely that you are 100% right 100% of the time. That's just basic statistics. If you always place the blame on your partner, it may be worth looking at your actions to see if there are instances where you were wrong.
Communication is arguably the most important part of any relationship—and lack of it is one of the main reasons relationships fail. Feeling under-appreciated? Communicate that to your partner. Want them to pick up some slack around the house with chores? You get the idea. By being able to have an open, honest conversation, you'll be able to strengthen your relationship.
Unless your partner is a mind reader, you can't expect them to know exactly what you need every single time. It's important to communicate with them and open up about things that are bothering you. (Though if they know you get hangry and forget to bring snacks on your road trip, that's kind of on them.)
