17 Things You Must Start Doing In Your Relationships

Maintaining healthy, strong and harmonious relationships with people who are close to us is extremely significant. No matter if it’s a family member, a best friend or a partner, they have an important role in our life and we have to learn how to keep them.

You establish special relationships with people you hold dear and respect, and at the same time, you know  they accept you for who you are with all your virtues and flaws. They’re always there to help and encourage you unselfishly. You know that they are the ones who really matter and deserve your attention and love.

So, if you want to nurture your special relationships with people close to your heart, and make them last a lifetime, you must start doing certain things which can help you achieve that.

In what follows, there’s a list of 17 things you must start practicing in every relationship that you have.

Here it is:

1. Treat everyone with respect and kindness.

It’s wrong if you believe that you should be kind and respectful only to people who are good to you. Try to respect even those who have laughed at or been mean to you because if you don’t do that you’ll easily become the same negative and rude person as they are. Treating people kindly and respectfully will make them aware that you really appreciate and care about them. Moreover, if one day someone decides to leave you, you’ll know that you treated them right and it’s not your fault.

2. Get rid of people who are negative.

Don’t let other people’s negativity affect you and bring you down. Make sure you’re in the company of someone with whom you share feelings of mutual support, love, and admiration. Build relationships with people who will make you feel proud of them and of yourself as well. Spend time with those who have a positive attitude to life and make you feel content, emotionally complete, and positive about yourself.

3. Free yourself from people who have already left you.

Who wants to nurture relationships with people who only want to get an advantage of you? I think we both know the answer. It can be painful letting go of people who were once close to you. Yet, you shouldn’t waste time and energy trying to keep your relationship with those who have already decided to walk away from you. If they don’t need you, trust me, you don’t need them too. By getting rid of such people, you’ll make more space and time for people who will be able to see your real worth and deserve to be a part of your life.

4. Accept new relationships.

You’ll be surprised to know how a person you accidentally meet can positively influence and change your life for good. Their own life story can offer you many challenges, new perspectives of life, and experiences you’ll be grateful for all your life.

5. Find out who of your friends are real keepers.

Life teaches you sooner or later that it’s always better to have only one or two real friends, i.e. keepers, than having a bunch of dishonest and selfish ones. It’s difficult to find a keeper. Yet, you’ll know someone is your true friend if they never leave you when you’re down in the dumps or let you pick up the broken pieces all on your own. They love and respect you and they appreciate every single thing about you. Make sure you keep them close to you.

6. Speak your mind and don’t say things you don’t mean.

If you hold a grudge against someone, tell them. If they do something which hurts your feelings, make them know it. If you appreciate or love someone, show it to them. Don’t withhold anything within yourself and start expressing all your emotions and opinions openly because others will never know that you care about them.

7. Give others the same things you want to receive in return.

If it’s love, respect, kindness, loyalty, friendship or help that you need from your loved ones, you must give them exactly the same things and nothing less than that. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

8. Don’t try to change anyone.

You have a relationship with someone because you accept them for who they are. If you truly love someone, no matter if it’s a friend, a family member or your soulmate, you love them with all their imperfections. Moreover, trying to change them is highly unfair and even mean.

9. Show loyalty.

Loyalty is the basis of every healthy and meaningful relationship. It’s something that makes both people in a relationship absolutely trust, appreciate and feel closer to each other.

10. Encourage and celebrate with others their success.

A true friend or a partner is always happy for the other person’s achievements. Moreover, they always encourage them to strive for and achieve more success. So, make your loved ones know you’re their biggest fan.

11. Fulfill your promises and don’t lie.

If you promise you’ll go to a party, go! If you say you’ll do a house chore, do it! Never lie to your close ones about things, no matter how important or insignificant they are. Always keep your promises and never manipulate the emotions and opinions of your loved ones. Don’t create an image of yourself as an irresponsible and dishonest person.

12. Let others decide for themselves.

Would you like to have someone telling you how to live your life, what things to choose, who to spend your time with, and what decisions you should make? No, right? So, don’t always try to talk some sense into other people’s minds or affect their decisions.

13. Avoid talking and listen more instead when a person needs a listening ear.

Yeah, you enjoy speaking your mind freely and giving pieces of advice to your loved ones. Yet, it’s not always advice that they want from you. Oftentimes, what they only need is to find someone whose hand they can hold and who can understand them. When a close person to you is expressing their doubts or fears, it doesn’t necessarily mean they need advice from you.

14. Avoid making rude or hurtful comments.

Make sure your criticism of your dear ones is constructive. There will be moments when you’ll want to be honest and open their eyes to something. Yet, don’t forget there is always a right way to do that. By insulting and making inconsiderate, rude comments, you’ll show that you don’t really understand and care about them.

15. Don’t hide your imperfections.

Make sure you’re surrounded by people who accept and support you when you act foolishly, make mistakes or embarrass yourself in public. Spend time with those in whose company you don’t need to pretend to be somebody else, because, trust me, to them you’re perfect just as you are.

16. Learn to forgive people and move on with your life.

To forgive people doesn’t mean you have to forget about the wrong things they did to you. It means you’ve found the strength within yourself to accept and learn from the bad things others made you experience and plucked up the courage to move forward with your life. By forgiving others, you don’t give them another chance to hurt you, but you give yourself a chance to liberate yourself from the hate you feel towards them and heal your wounds. Don’t hold a grudge against people and embrace opportunities to meet better people.                        

17. Nurture a relationship with yourself.

You can’t have a quality relationship with others if you don’t have one with yourself. You must start telling yourself that you love and appreciate everything about your character and body. Remind yourself every single day how smart and amazing you are.