This post is all about answering the question “why are healthy relationships important.”
Healthy relationships make our lives better and, when we outgrow them or need to adapt our relationships to new circumstances, they can grow with us. But, it can be hard to know whether you’re in a healthy relationship.
Maybe you struggle with relationship anxiety, which is normal and super common in a society that places such as huge importance on you being in a partnership. Or maybe you’re in danger of not being in a healthy relationship because your relationship doesn’t make feel good anymore.
Everyone should be in a healthy relationship, whether that’s a platonic, familial, or romantic relationship. So, let’s take a look at how you benefit from a healthy relationship.
This post is all about the question “why are healthy relationships important.”
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS:
1. Emotional support
The best kinds of relationships give the support you need when you need it the most. Part of this means you can’t always put in the same amount of effort into the relationship that the other person is putting in.
And, when they need your support, you’re the one putting in more effort. So, every healthy relationship needs the flexibility and strength to provide comfort and accommodate for the more challenging times when one person needs support.
A healthy relationship leaves you feeling good about relying on the other person, so you don’t have to go through hard times alone. They may not be able to walk you through life, but they can support you when you need it and you can do the same for them.
2. Improved well-being
When we are in a good, strong relationships with other people, we feel better. Maybe we’re doing activities with our loved ones or we’re calling them when we’re lonely. Whatever it is, our relationships are a source of joy and strength in our lives.
Wherever we are emotionally, we can rely on our relationships to make us feel connected. The simple act of having a conversation with someone genuinely cares about how we’re doing and what we’re saying makes us feel good.
Not to mention, we can surround ourselves with people who promote mental health practices that help us cope with anxiety, depression, and stress. Essentially, healthy relationships add to our lives.
3. Stress reduction
We’re not going through life alone. While we never want to take advantage of the people who support us or will listen, we also need to remember that our support network wants to be there for us as much as we want to be there for them.
If you’re ever scared to rely on someone, think about a time when someone called to rely on you. Maybe they called you crying or they just wanted to talk out some anxiety. You were there for them and not only did you two get closer, but you felt honored.
Give that gift to someone else and rely on them to help you talk it out. You don’t have to experience a mental health crisis to reach out to a loved one for help. You can just call them and talk.
4. Enhanced self-esteem
When people choose to be in a relationship with you as friends, partners, or family (because you can choose your family), they do it because they like you. They want to be around you and they value you as a part of their lives.
That’s pretty cool and it’s a great reason to feel good about yourself. When you’re in a healthy relationship or multiple healthy relationships, you feel loved. In order for someone to love you, they have to like you, especially if they weren’t born into as a sibling or cousin.
Healthy relationships should make you feel valued.
5. Better communication skills
One of the reasons that healthy relationships become or stay healthy is they promote open and honest conversations. No matter how scared you get, if you want to keep a relationship in your life, you’re going to get raw and honest.
Healthy relationships thrive on communication, even if it means they need to change as the people in them change. The longer you are involved with someone, the more you realize the importance of good communication skills and you can learn them along the way.
6. Shared experiences
Healthy relationships open up the opportunity to make lasting memories with people. The deeper you get to know someone, the more you get share time together and the more you two want each other around.
When you’re in a healthy relationship, you’ll create memories together and share incredible experiences that are special because the two of you experienced it together.
7. Personal growth
Healthy relationships give you the space to talk through the hard stuff. Once you have people around you who support you, you can only grow. You get to see the people around you change and try new things, and you get to celebrate with them.
It’s almost impossible not to be surrounded by people who care about you and not be inspired by everything they accomplish. Plus, they’ll celebrate you just as much as celebrate them, and that kind of support makes just about anything seem possible.
8. Increased empathy
What sucks about being in healthy relationships with people you genuinely love and cherish is the fact that you will watch them suffer and go through a lot of pain. But, luckily, you’ll learn to have a lot of empathy for the people around you.
It will become easier to see everyone as human, no matter what they do. That doesn’t mean that you have to forgive people or befriend them, but it does mean that you can understand that there’s a person behind the hurtful things they do.
9. Building trust
Trust is the foundation of every healthy relationship. Most relationships develop some type of trust automatically the deeper two people get to know each other. It’s when this trust is broken through gossip or lies that you notice trust.
In a healthy relationship, you won’t see trust very often, but you’ll notice it’s there when you go to tell a loved one a secret or practice brutal honesty with them. Trust is the type of thing you don’t notice until it’s missing and, at that point, you may not longer be in a healthy relationship.
10. Support for goals and dreams
When you have the support of people you trust, you can do just about anything. People who support you and your dreams will be there when you fail and fall short because, ultimately, they care about you doing what makes you happy.
Maybe they won’t approve or they’ll judge, but that all falls away when they really need to support and encourage you. People are different, so you will get different types of support from everyone.
Some people will express support by telling you you’re doing something dangerous or bold or gutsy and they’re scared for you. Other will be nothing but supportive and ready with the tissues and hugs if you fail. Either way, you’ve got the right kind of people in your life because they love you and want what’s best for you when they’re supporting you and your dreams.
11. Emotional resilience
Life’s hard and it’s hard to deal with on your own. No matter how hard we try, life is way too complicated and challenging for us to cope entirely on our own. It’s possible, but it’s painful.
So, when we rely on our healthy relationships to give us the support and love we need after a setback, we’re giving ourselves the chance to learn resilience. When we are exhausted from dealing with challenges, it’s way too difficult for us to try and learn how to bounce back from that in addition to getting through it.
This is why healthy relationships are key to our health and our happiness. They matter all the time, whether we’re happy or we’re struggling.
12. Sense of security
We can count on healthy relationships. They’re not going to go away on a whim and they give us a person we can trust. Part of that trust is knowing that person loves us and wants to be in our life.
When we make trust the foundation of our relationships, we can talk about the stuff that bothers us and find ways to make our relationships even stronger and more fulfilling for everyone involved.
We can rely on our healthy relationships to stay in our lives because, even if there’s conflict or stress or distance, all it takes is a conversation because both people want it to work.
13. Shared values and interests
Healthy relationships are fun. Yes, they provide us with security and support and love, but they also give us great people to hang out with and enjoy. Depending on how each of your relationships started, you have something in common with that person.
Maybe you both love to do escape rooms together or you have similar values that give you a sense of belonging. People can be your home and a huge source of joy in life because that’s part of what makes it such a healthy relationship.
14. Mutual respect
So many of these answers to the question “why are healthy relationships important” revolve around mutual respect. You’re in a relationship with somebody because you care about them and you value them.
The best part is they feel the same way about you. You can rest assured that people who keep you in their life, who trust you with their secrets, and support you when you’re struggling are doing all of that because they respect you and they know respect them.
15. Enhanced social connections
You’re going to meet friends of your friends. It’s inevitable, especially if you’re spending a lot of time around a small group of friends. Your social network will grow and you’ll start to feel a sense of community.
You may not get close to everyone you meet, but you’ll talk to cool people who are probably pretty similar to you and your friend. So, you’ll like the people you meet and you’ll get to experience bite-sized friendships that can leave you feeling fulfilled and connected.
16. Long-lasting bonds
At a certain point, you’ll know someone for so long that you’ll realize you’ve known them for longer than you didn’t know them or longer than you’ve known anybody else. There’s no better source of joy and contentment than being longterm friends with someone who gives you healthy love.
Healthy relationships are the best way to keep people around and they’re a great test to make sure someone is worth keeping in your life.
You won’t be able to build a healthy relationship with everyone for a variety of reasons, so don’t try. Let it happen and let unhealthy relationships leave your life because you deserve healthy love.
