5 Tips to Help You Keep Your Relationship Sweet

Being in a relationship can be the best thing in the world. You always have someone to share good news with, you automatically have a date to every wedding and party, you know you're going to be kissing someone at midnight on New Year's Eve instead of throwing back a shot and you have someone to clap for you when you don't feel like you can clap for yourself. While all of that is great, it's sad but true that all too easily, a relationship can go sour and, if not dealt with properly, the bitterness can lead to a break up. Having been in a relationship where this happened before, having bounced around the casual dating scene for 18 months or so and to now being in a committed relationship again that is (so far) so good, I have 5 tips for you that can help you to keep your own relationship pretty sweet. 

Communicate

I can not stress this enough! Without communication, it is so easy for the entire relationship to break down- and so quickly too. I never really used to speak up before, but I am so vocal in my relationship now. If he's pissed me off, he's gonna know about it. If he makes me happy, I make sure to tell him. Communication helps you to vocalise any problems and to deal with them more efficiently. Holding something inside and bottling up is only going to lead to a bigger explosion later down the line. Communication doesn't just have to be for bad things though, it is healthy to communicate positivity too! Don't you love it when someone makes you feel appreciated? Well, it's likely that your partner loves to feel appreciated too! Compliment them, send them cute messages out of the blue, show them gratitude when it's deserved...communication is key to any successful relationship, there's no doubt about it. 

"Maybe a relationship is just two idiots who don't know a damn thing except the fact that they're willing to figure it out together"

Keep your relationship your relationship- don't let people interfere!

You'll probably find that more often than not, any discord in a relationship is due to other people getting involved. You've heard this from someone, they've been told something by someone else, your friend doesn't like how he treats you and his mates girlfriend would never make him do the washing, so why do you?

Listen. Don't let anyone else interfere. If the two of you are happy then that is all that matters. Don't let other people tell you how they think your relationship should be. Don't let other people try and sow seed's of doubt between the two of you. As much as you can, try to keep people out of your relationship. And on that note, try and keep social media out of your relationship too! I'm not saying hide your relationship from the online world, although you can if you like. No, I mean don't compare your relationship to a relationship you see online. Don't try and live up to the ridiculous expectations that we see being set online. Your relationship is yours and it's going to go how you want it to. Don't let other people or social media tell you otherwise!

It's between you and your partner, and if the two of you are happy and content with how things are then no one else, and nothing else, matters. 

Honesty is the best policy

Similar to communicate, but always be honest with each other. If you're mad, make sure that they know. If you've messed up, let them know. Be honest about your feelings, because if you lie once, you'll feel comfortable enough to lie again and again (and I'm not talking about little white lies like "I didn't eat the last packet of Dairylea dunkers babe"...). Being honest with each other will mean that there is a good element of trust between you (something a relationship absolutely cannot work without!) and this means that, in the grand scheme of things, you two will be happier together. 

"Relationships aren't for getting things, they're for giving things. Don't fall in love to make yourself happy, fall in love to make the person you fall in love with happy"

Live your own lives

In a relationship, of course you're going to want to be side by side for the vast majority of the time. However, it is important to maintain a life outside of your relationship- don't ditch your friends for a relationship, don't drop hobbies and extracurricular activities and, if you're at school, don't stop attending after school clubs or let your grades slide. It's great to do stuff together, but it's important to do stuff alone too. Even if it's just once a week, make sure you spend some time doing something with friends or family without your partner! A little separation can be very healthy! 

Have fun!

More important than almost anything else is to make sure you two have fun together! Don't get set into boring routines, shake things up! Keep going on date nights, surprise each other with small gifts or surprise days out, tell each other jokes and make each other laugh. Sure, sitting in front of the TV to binge watch Netflix is good once or twice a week, but every night is going to get boring eventually! Keep things exciting and have fun, and you two are guaranteed to be happy for a very long time to come!

Don't forget that a lot of this advice is applicable to friendships and family relationships too, not just romantic ones! It's important to keep all of your relationships healthy if you want them to be longlasting, and the tips above are great ways to ensure that happens! What advice would you give to help keep a relationship sweet? Feel free to share yours in the comments below!

Love from,

Florence Grace

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