Meet Me Halfway: Healthy Compromise and Emotional Straining
If you’re in a healthy relationship and have been for a while, I’m sure you can attest to the fact that any strong relationship, although still having it’s ups and downs, is predicated on balance and an even distribution of emotional investment from each person.
Basically, you meet each other halfway when it comes to how much you’re willing to get and give to the other.
One side of this is compromise.
There are things you want to do and ways in which you wish to act that may affect the other person in some detrimental way. Maybe you like to go out with friends too often, or you hog the choices on movie night, or you love making spicy food but your partner can stand it, these are things that you eventually learn to pull back on and compromise your actions a bit so the other person won’t grow to resent you for never changing. I’m not saying you should always change for a person if they don’t like something about you, I’m saying that understanding your partner's limits and being aware of your tendency to absentmindedly cross that line will ensure that it doesn’t become a habit and, therefore, earn the appreciation and respect of your partner. It’s not about losing autonomy, it’s about a greater shared interest in making the relationship work. If things are going well, they…
