Ever dreamed of meeting ‘the one’ and running off into the sunset? You’ve probably seen it in the movies, TV shows and the books you read. From the time you were a child, you were exposed to princesses and princes in fairytale stories who would have their forever after. As a result, many people go through their lives waiting for that moment when they will meet someone and fall in love. However, falling in love may not be as easy, or as rosy as fiction might make it look. It’s not something that you should walk into blindly and then hope your heart clears the way. In order to protect yourself when it comes to love, here are things that you should know:
Loving someone is great, but so is loving yourself
To be able to give something to someone, you need to be able to do the same for yourself. Taking care of yourself should be the first step towards a relationship. By treating yourself with kindness and focusing on the things that make you a better person, then it gets easy to do the same for another person. Love, for the most part, is about caring for someone and wishing only the best for them. It’s hard to project onto others something that you don’t for yourself. So, once you’ve got your own love needs figured out, you can be that person for someone else.
Friendship is vital
The key to a great love life may as well depend on whether you and your partner are friends or not. Becoming friends before getting into any romantic entanglements means that both of you get an understanding of each other. By knowing about the interests, values and dreams of someone, you can then decide if they fit in your life. This saves you from having to pretend comfort in a relationship. Also, it gives you a chance to know whether the other person will be instrumental in your personal development, or simply hold you back.
Happiness is not equivalent to love
Many people get into relationships with happiness in mind. They think that if they find the right person, then everything will fall into place, and they will have found their happiness at last. However, this may not be the best mindset to get into a relationship with. Romantic relationships come with their downs, or someone may turn out to be what you did not expect. Being focused on your goals will keep you happy enough, and will also help you to deal with hurdles that come in love’s way with a clear mind.
Compromise is key
One of the main reasons why you should try friendship before getting into a relationship is because you need to figure out what you can live with, and what you cannot. In any relationship, compromise is key because each of you has their own personalities. If you decide you can live with someone and all their habits and behaviors, then you may as well take the jump.
Learn from your past
If you have been in relationships before, use up all the lessons you got from them. Avoid making the same mistakes over again, or getting yourself into situations that don’t enrich you as a person.
Falling in love can be one of the best feelings in the world. If you go into it with the right arsenal, it might as well last forever.
