Human beings are social creatures that want to be wanted. We all want human connection with someone outside of ourselves, and often that desired connection tends to lean towards the romantic side of the spectrum. Despite everyone wanting this very thing, relationships are tricky. When you take two completely different people and put them in such an intimate situation, there’s bound to be friction that is unexpected. Oftentimes, situations outside of the relationship work their way in and complicate things, as well. Here are some of the common trials that people go through, at some point, in most relationships…
Serious Behavioral Issues
This category is purposely large, but that’s because there’s no limit to the possibilities of bad or negative behavior that a person can engage in. People are going to do things, bad things, that the other person in a relationship is definitely not going to approve of. These may be small things that are fairly easy to forget and get over. However, in the case of things like infidelity or substance abuse, they may very well tear at the fabric of what keeps a couple together.
When these things happen, though, it doesn’t mean that all is lost. If there is a conscious desire by both partners to make things work, then that means it’s time to reach out and get therapy. As a matter of fact, many items on this list could benefit from a dose of couples therapy. Here is a good article on how to get the most out of a therapy experience.
Long Distance Relationships
No matter how strong you think your relationship is, being long-distance is going to hurt. Truly connecting with a person and sharing your life with them, only to then have to spend so much time physically split apart is a situation that really, really sucks, any way you cut it. Sure, there’s phone calls, Skype, and all sorts of different ways to keep in touch, nowadays, but nothing really replacing the feeling of being physically close to the person that you love. Over time, long-distance relationships can take quite a psychological toll.
However, don’t believe people when they tell you that long-distance relationships can’t work. They absolutely can! It does take a lot more work and effort, though. And both parties have to really want it. The good news is that, after a period of long-distance is over, you will have a newfound appreciation for each other, and will probably be stronger for it.
Moving in Together for the First Time
So you’ve been dating someone for a while now. You get along great and everything seems to be going swell. You can easily imagine a future for yourself where you see this person every day, and you both share so many facets of your life with each other. Now, you think it’s the right time to move in together.
This very well might be the case, but don’t expect things to be as easy as they were before you lived together. Going on dates is a very different animal than living in the same space. Pretty soon, you’re going to find that you both have different ways of doing things, and different ways that you like your living space to work. This means learning to compromise in ways that are new and uncomfortable to you. This isn’t the hardest trial on this list, by any means, but it is always more of an obstacle than you think it is going to be.
Dealing with Difficult Finances
Take the most lovey-dovey relationship of strong, supportive people, and then add money problems to it. Almost every time, no matter how strong the relationship is, there’s going to be friction and stress that takes patience and work to get through. The important thing to get through these types of situations is to have good communication skills that you use on a day-to-day basis.
While money problems might seem more stressful when you’ve got an additional person to worry about it with, they can also seem smaller when you consider you’ve got two different people to tackle that problem. To help in this endeavor, here is a good article about how to manage money as a couple.