They Do Attract: 8 Reasons Why You Should Date Your Polar Opposite

You'll date a lot of people throughout your life. If you're lucky, you'll have some really great, really memorable relationships through which you learn a lot, experience a lot and change for the better.

One of those relationships is when you date your polar opposite.

At some point, all people should date someone who's vastly different from them.

Because as you make your way through that relationship, you'll feel yourself becoming a better, more open-minded, more well-rounded individual. And who knows? This person could even end up being the One.

Dating your opposite might be a challenge, sure, but the best things in life don't come easy. So here are 8 reasons why you should do it.

You'll learn new ideas that will strengthen what you already believe in or challenge you to think differently

The best part about a relationship with your polar opposite will be all the new perspectives. There's nothing that strengthens your own opinions more (or makes you question them more) than having someone challenge them.

Perhaps your partner will confront you with an idea you completely disagree with, which will then allow you to strengthen what you already believe in. Or perhaps your partner will introduce you to something new, and it will change your opinion.

As long as there's a curiosity to learn and a mutual respect for each other's differences, exchanging new ideas will be the best part of your relationship.

You'll sharpen your communication skills

Polar opposites tend to communicate differently, so it's important you guys have top-notch communication skills and work on strengthening them throughout the course of your relationship.

And I'm not just talking about making sure to always communicate how you feel, though that is extremely important. You also must be able to understand the ways your partner communicates how he or she feels.

Are you a little more direct with your feelings, or are you a bit more reserved? You know yourself better than anyone, so be honest with your partner about who you are.

If you're a little more direct, understand that maybe your partner isn't, so work out the best way for your partner to communicate his or her feelings. If you are a little more reserved, understand that the aloofness might confuse your partner, so open up to him or her more.

Taking the time to get to know the differences in the way you both communicate will help your relationship go far. And then, you can take these skills to other relationships in your life.

S/he'll calm you down (if you're type-A) or motivate you (if you're type-B)

If there's one realistic thing we can take from the manic pixie dream girl trope, it's that sometimes you need someone who is your total opposite to get you out of your shell.

If you and your partner are opposites, your personalities likely are, too. This means you'll always have somebody to pump you up to be confident if you're timid or shy, or to calm you down if you're anxious or uptight.

And your partner's efforts to balance you out won't take too much energy, either, because he or she will naturally be the yin to your yang. You two are a balancing match made in heaven.

You'll become a more sympathetic person

Sympathy is an important quality. Sympathetic people are more understanding, are kinder, and form better relationships with the people around them.

The key to becoming sympathetic is having an ability to understand different perspectives, and dating someone who's your polar opposite will help you do just that.

Say you're a city girl who's dating a farm boy, or an atheist who's dating a Christian. There's no way you'd have been able to get as close of a look into the perspectives and life experiences of this person if you weren't dating him or her.

Sure, there are plenty of ways to get to know people who are different from you, but that element of intimacy and romance will make your connection even stronger.

Then, once you've gotten to know the perspective of your polar opposite, you'll become good at understanding a variety of other different perspectives. You'll become a well-rounded individual whose ability to sympathize will know no bounds.

You'll know your relationship is based on more than just surface-level things in common

Any two people can share a love for a certain movie or music artist, but it takes a real connection to develop something deeper. You and your partner might not have everything in common when it comes to media tastes or hobbies, but who cares?

You have incredible conversations, you are unbelievably sexually compatible, you share an intense respect for one another, and you have an immense curiosity in one another. What could be better that?

Well, actually, perhaps one thing...

You'll get introduced to new music, movies and TV shows

It's easy to get bored of routine. How many times have you found yourself staring at your overplayed iTunes or Spotify library, wishing someone could just recommend you new songs? Or how about scrolling through your Netflix account and having no idea what to watch next?

When you date your polar opposite, you'll automatically become introduced to new artists, movies and TV shows you never knew existed, and probably would never have known existed if it weren't for your partner.

While you were spending your high school years jamming to Top 40 radio, your partner was spending his or her's searching the depths of the Internet for the best Indie and R&B and acoustic artists.

Now, you get to discover these artists, too, and one might even become your new favorite. In fact, one probably will.

Even your movie and TV repertoire will expand. Before you started dating your partner, you never really thought about watching "The Godfather," but now you can proudly add that the list of movies you've seen. Perhaps your partner has a favorite show you'd never heard of, and now, you're addicted to it.

Goodbye, reruns of "Friends." Hello, "Freaks and Geeks."

You'll get great advice

Sometimes, if you're in a rut, you just need a new perspective. So what could be better than dating someone who, by default, thinks differently from you?

If you're having a problem, your polar opposite partner will give you great advice because you'll never have thought to look at a situation that way before.

He or she will be able to remove you from the problem and help you think about it in a way you never have -- and that could save you a lot of trouble.

Who needs a therapist when you've got a great boyfriend or girlfriend?

You'll never, ever be bored

It's far too often that I hear of couples becoming bored and feeling complacent in their relationships. They feel like their relationship has lost that spark, that drive and that they've settled into an irreversible, monotonous routine.

When you date your polar opposite, this won't happen. Or at least, it won't happen as easily as it happens to other couples, since you'll constantly be surprised throughout your relationship, even when you thought the surprises were over.

The best relationships are those that achieve the ideal balance between comfort/familiarity and newness/spontaneity.

A relationship with your polar opposite will guarantee both, all the time.