Relationships

Moving In With Your Boyfriend Will Change You For The Better

by Carolyn Gladd

Article after article, I read how when you are a single lady your life is full of crazy nights and drinks, but when the time comes to move in with your boyfriend, the fun stops and you are constantly in your sweats watching Netflix like a zombie. Your youth is over and all of your independence is gone.

Actually, no. I am here to tell you living with someone special does NOT mean you automatically transform into an old hag overnight, planning to have babies and baking cakes! (Not that there is anything wrong with that, though.)

When your relationship steps up, your social life doesn't have to dwindle. If anything, you'll have more friends because your crew can mingle with your boyfriend's now.

It's impossible to give bullet points of every teensy way your life will alter when you live with your significant other because, like we all learned in elementary school, each and every person in this world is different. Therefore every relationship is unique, and it is hard to put a finger on exactly how your life will change.

Life does not transition from black to white that quickly. You are still a living, breathing soul with the ability to make your own decisions while still arguing over who will clean the dishes.

Even though you can still go out with your girlfriends every Friday night, there are some gradual differences you will notice once you live with your significant other, but they will change you for the better and make your relationship even stronger.

Like, real adult decisions. Your own drastic choices become a little more complicated when you are dragging someone else along for the ride. Out of decency, you have to consider your loved one's feelings and wants as well as yours.

When you score an interview for a job across the country, can you really ditch your best friend? If you desire to travel abroad, are you going to have to wait until your lease is up to go? And wait for him to make up his mind about joining you in your fabulous idea?

Life just becomes a bit more complicated, but then again, you are no longer high school sweethearts living across the street. You have your own fat bills to pay and meals to cook to keep each other afloat.

This can be disheartening for the free spirit. It can be hard to have to think of someone else before you grasp your next whim and jump on a plane to be an au pair in Germany, leaving him in the dust.

However, when you love someone enough, it isn't hard work to put him into your thoughts and considerations. Your bones would ache if you left him behind, and your gut would twist merely at the thought of being far apart for too long.

You have to give up a bit of power over where the breeze is going to take you next because you know one tight bear hug, a gentle kiss or an intimate gaze from your lover makes cohabiting worth the sacrifice.

You'll get used to it, become a better version of yourself and be grateful for your rock always by your side.