Why Your Friends Are Key To Having Successful Romantic Relationships
Friends are beneficial to our life so many ways. They make us happier, they're there to pick us up after a heartbreak and they celebrate all our successes with us.
After years of considering myself a bad friend, I have realized that deep, meaningful friendships are vital for all of us in order to have deep, meaningful romantic relationships.
In order for us to have any deep or meaningful connection with others, we first have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable. We need to be authentic and comfortable with all aspects of ourselves -- the good, the bad and the ugly.
Our friends are our first venture into practicing vulnerability. If we can allow ourselves to ugly cry in front of our bestie, then maybe, just maybe, we can get the courage to ugly cry in front of our significant other.
Not only do friends provide us the comfortable surroundings to be vulnerable, they also serve a very important role in allowing us to have trust in others. Trust is a very important aspect of romantic life; we have to allow ourselves to trust the person we're with romantically.
Our friends give us the opportunity to work on our level of trust with others. Even though it's hard to trust people, especially these days, you can always count on your friends to be the most trustworthy people. You can tell them anything without the risk of being judged, you can share your deepest fears and desires -- they will always listen.
Our friends teach us the valuable lesson of apologizing. I'm guilty of being a shitty friend, as a result, I've suffered losing some of my closest friends. But my ride or die girls, forgave me, even when I couldn't forgive myself. When it comes to romantic relationships, we all need to allow ourselves to be humble, and apologize whenever we do something hurtful.
Romantic relationships will inevitably involve some arguments. The arguments could be about where to go to dinner, or who's going to clean up the dishes. Friendship teaches us to be attentive to others with our words and actions.
It's important to remember that you have to accept your own mistakes, no matter how difficult. You will have to apologize when you're wrong if you want any sort of relationship in your life.
Lastly, our friends teach us how to be grateful. A real friend will do a lot for you and there will be plenty of instances for you to thank this person for their generosity. Most of us, myself included, learn and truly understand the value of friendship when we lose it.
Please, be grateful for having real friends and appreciate every minute spent together. Everyone knows how great and important it is to feel you are wholly noticed, and appreciated for just being yourself. That's true love. And all these values and feelings translate to a healthy romantic relationship.
Your lasting friendships have, and will, continue to provide you with ample opportunities to better yourself and to grow into the best version of yourself.
