What is the key for a healthy relationship?

NEGI RK Thursday, January 14, 2021

What is the key for a healthy relationship?

For the past year, my girlfriend and I have lived with each other.

We shared a space at Hopkins for the first two months of 2020. From March until June, we stayed in her parents’ basement. From July until the end of 2020, we lived independently in my parents’ condo in Florida.

Because we have had no place to go, we have spent an enormous amount of time together—we eat together, work and study together, and relax together. The constant proximity hasn’t been easy. We often annoy or irritate one another. Sometimes, we fight.

However, our relationship is healthy and has grown tremendously, even with the stress of the pandemic. Here’s how:

We trust each other. We are each other’s anchor. We have each other’s back. We provide a sense of security and consistency in a rapidly changing world.
We are radically transparent and honest. We share our thoughts and feelings with each other. We do not hide things. Hiding results in a lack of trust.
We reflect often on our strengths and weaknesses. We both have areas we need to work on to further improve our relationship. We help one another improve on our weaknesses.
We go on fun adventures and dates to keep our relationship fresh. For instance, we picked up fancy cheese, jam, and bread from the store the other day and made a nice movie night out of it.
We respect each other.
We want each other to succeed and will unwaveringly support the other person.
We never go to sleep angry or upset at the other person. We work things out before we fall asleep.

I’m very grateful for you, Caroline. You are my rock.