Relationships can be a beautifully magical experience, at least at first. As time goes by, invariably things change. You might find that you're always fighting with each other or it could feel like you've just grown bored with your predictable partner.
Staying in a relationship because you depend on your partner for money or because you're afraid of being alone or of hurting their feelings is not very healthy.
However, there are lots of good reasons why people shouldn't give up so easily on the person they have shared so much with.
Read on to learn the many benefits of healthy relationships and when you should try to make it work.
Giving and Receiving Love and Care
As much as we like to believe we are better on our own (especially after another fight with our significant other about something petty), the fact is that we were made to give and receive love. Our ultimate state of joy is the feeling of being in love. We all want to feel cared for by someone special. Regardless of the fussing and fighting you and your partner are doing, if you are still giving and receiving love from each other, that's a good reason to stay in your relationship and work on what's causing the disagreements.
Supporting Each Other
The challenges that life throws at us can be difficult to face without someone who loves and cares for us. After an overwhelming day at work, we want to have someone we can speak to who will always take our side and empathize with us. Even if there's nothing they can do to make our issues at work better, simply having their support makes life easier to cope with.
Inspiring You to Better Yourself
If your partner still stimulates you to become a better version of yourself, then this is a good indication that there are more reasons to stay with your partner than to leave them. Whether you want to stay healthy and keep fit or to work hard in your career so that you can have a more comfortable life in the future, as long as you are a good influence on each other in this way, your relationship is still productive and beneficial to you.
Exploring New Hobbies and Experiences Together
Being with someone else gives you the confidence to explore new things together. It's kind of like traveling to a foreign country. You would be reluctant to venture into strange areas alone, but if you have your partner with you, you'll be more likely to want to check out places you've never been to before. Also, you'll have them to share the memories with afterwards. This is one of the benefits of being in a relationship.
Keeping You Positive
Yes, always having to put up with another person's annoying habits can get tiring, but one of the benefits of healthy relationships is that overall, it keeps us in a positive frame of mind. Life doesn't feel so hopeless and empty when we have someone to share it with. Lonely people and some single people tend to be more pessimistic about their present life, whereas couples seem to be a little more carefree and confident.
Enabling You to Be Yourself
Being with someone who knows who you truly are is a refreshing feeling after spending the day with colleagues, associates, and strangers. In professional environments, we have to be on our best behavior and make sure that we always present ourselves appropriately. On the other hand, when we're at home with our other half, we can swear, tell rude jokes, and refuse to use good table manners when eating our food. We don't have to make an effort to appear to be anything other than who we are and we know that this one person still loves us and accepts us for exactly who that is!
Reducing Stress
Science has proven that hugs which last more than 30 seconds release hormones that reduce the stress levels in our bodies. Although we do hug our parents, siblings, and friends, they are rarely lingering hugs that will have this effect on us. When we lie snuggled up on the sofa with our sweethearts, you might not notice it, but your body will be benefiting from these healthy hormones being released into your bloodstream. This is the same benefit we receive when we have regular sex with someone we love. Regular orgasms are an important stress reliever, especially for women! In the past, women who displayed symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress were diagnosed as suffering from hysteria - the remedy for this condition was orgasm! This is one of the benefits of healthy relationships that many women don't know.
Companionship
Personally, I believe that one of the most practical reasons to be in a relationship is for companionship. When you look at it this way, it takes a lot of pressure off our relationships being perfect. It's the pursuit of perfection in relationships that causes the conflicts that make them fall apart in the end.
Companionship in this context simply means someone who keeps you company and keeps you from feeling alone. You won't need this all the time because you have your life, work, and friends that take up your time and your own pleasures and hobbies that you like to spend your free time doing. But having one special person to do things with will make your life complete. Even if you're in the same room and not even speaking to each other, just having them there will be comforting. Having someone to share meals, take a walk or go to the cinema with is really the benefit of being in a relationship that you'll appreciate well into your old age, when not much else matters.
Summary
A relationship that's worth staying in will require effort from both parties to make it work. When times get hard, you might consider walking away, but this could be a mistake.
If the reasons to be in a relationship mentioned above are present in your life, then it's better to stay in your relationship and do what it takes to make it better. But if you are no longer seeing any of the benefits of healthy relationships, then it might be time to call it quits and move on with your life.