Relationship Values List
Being in a relationship is truly the most beautiful and magical experience one can feel. When you find that one person you want to have all kinds of adventures with and someone you want to stay with no matter what, it’s truly a great feeling. When you get in a relationship, there are particular values you need to incorporate for both of you to last. Your values in a relationship can make or break the foundation of your relationship, which is what makes it so crucial. In this article, we’ll be providing the relationship values list you should be wary of.
1. Honesty
This one should be pretty obvious in a relationship. Honesty is the best policy, after all. While no person is a hundred percent frank all the time, it’s necessary to share a mutual openness and transparency about the important things with the person you’re dating. Without honesty, it’s easy to have a lack of trust – and trust is one of the most common factors for a relationship to fall apart. If you really want your relationship to work out the way you want it to, it’s essential to have candor. This doesn’t mean the white lies, but the lies that are so crucial that they can make your partner not trust you.
2. Faithfulness
It’s extremely rare to find a sense of faithfulness in a partner. When you and your partner are both faithful to one another, there’s a good chance you’ll both last. This also means being faithful to them when things are far from convenient, when things get dull and boring, or when you’re going through a rough patch. Commitment is such a strong word and this is a vital value to have in a relationship. In this relationship values list, faithfulness is one you shouldn’t ignore.
3. Equality
It seems that this particular value is often overlooked, but it’s such an important one. Relationships are all about partnerships so this means treating one another like an equal. It will be destructive for your relationship if there’s an evident power struggle at play. You should be treating one another like a teammate instead of someone below you. This means that whatever one cannot do or accomplish, the other should make up for it. That’s how a partnership works. So the responsibilities and burden shouldn’t just fall on one person alone, but it should be shared between you two.
4. Respect
This is also another value that can make or break the entirety of your relationship. Without respect, there’s a lack of trust, and eventually, a lack of love. You should never undermine the value of respect in a relationship. If anything, respect is also connected to equality as you’ll never see your partner as an equal if you don’t respect them first. So it’s important that you respect each other’s opinions, thoughts, emotions, ideas, boundaries, and who they are as a person. You should never see yourself above them at all costs. It’s also helpful if you see your partner as a best friend because if there’s friendship in the relationship, then respect should be natural for both of you. It’s why most relationships that work have friendship as a foundation.
5. Communication
The lack of communication and understanding in a relationship is what causes the majority of fights and arguments. It’s important that you both share effective and clear communication so you can both speak what you want and feel. Otherwise, misunderstandings will be common in your relationship. In having effective communication, it’s also important to practice adequate listening skills. You can’t be a great communicator if you don’t listen to your partner or validate their emotions.
6. Forgiveness
The key to most long-lasting relationships and even marriages is the capacity to forgive repeatedly. This doesn’t mean blindly forgiving them when they’ve cheated, but it’s more of a matter of seeing things from their perspective. Whether it’s minor or major, you have to both be capable of forgiving one another and remember to choose to love them, even when it’s difficult at that moment. Remind yourself why you fell in love with them in the first place as that’s how you’ll be able to choose love instead of anger and resentment.
7. Empathy
Ironically, this is another one of the most overlooked values in this list. Without empathy, it’s easy to cause conflict and misunderstanding in a relationship. This means that one of you will feel invalidated, simply because the other isn’t putting themselves in the other’s shoes. You should always empathize with what your partner is thinking or feeling, even if you don’t understand why they feel the way they do. Also, a lack of empathy means you don’t have an emotional or mental connection in the relationship. Without those types of connections, there isn’t adequate intimacy in your relationship for both of you to last. Simply put, empathy is that crucial in making your relationship thrive and succeed.
8. Accountability
Nobody likes hearing the word accountability, but it’s an important value. Without accountability, neither one of you would want to take the blame. You have to be willing to be accountable for your mistakes and wrongdoings, no matter how hard it is. This shows maturity and growth in a relationship. Otherwise, your relationship will fall apart because you refuse to admit your faults. It might not seem like a big deal now, but eventually, it’s going to matter.
In conclusion, I hope this article was able to shed insight on the relationship values list you should know about. All the values in this list are crucial in making a relationship last in the long term. It’s important that you find someone who shares these values because if not and you’re with someone who has opposing values, you’ll constantly clash with one another. In order to have a beautiful and healthy relationship that lasts for a long term, finding someone with similar values as you is key. In this context, opposites do not attract.