Nobody can guarantee you eternal love. The feeling that you have met a special person, next to whom you have found yourself, comes from the very depths of your personality. This feeling cannot be “constructed,” and it is not subject to the will. However, our greatest misconception is to believe that partnerships end when love goes away. In fact, men and women break up because they lose something more important, a sense of respect for each other. The transition from an all-consuming closeness to mutual respect is a difficult period in the life of a couple, but it’s a foundation of any healthy relationship.
Love and respect are two aspects of a relationship, without which harmony and happiness are impossible. Moreover, these two elements are closely interconnected. In other words, it is impossible to have a love for a person without respect for them. And even when it comes to the question of how to date a friend’s ex and avoid drama, it is extremely important to remember about respect.
What Is Respect in a Relationship?
Respect is not just an attitude towards another person, based on the recognition of their merits but also the recognition of their rights to freedom and self-expression. Respect also means ensuring personal boundaries and not causing physical or psychological harm. The peculiarity of respect is that it is easy to lose and very difficult to restore.
Men and women put different priority qualities into the concept of “respect.” Simply put, respect is about practical things for a man, and it is about emotions for a woman. So, to be able to respect others, a person must first learn to respect themselves! We call respectful such an attitude towards us that strengthens or at least supports our self-esteem.
Many people ask themselves, “If I love myself, will relationships with loved ones become worse due to my egoism?” Such fears are the result of misconceptions about the concepts of “self-love” and “egoism.”
Self-love and Respect: What Is the Connection?
Firstly, taking care of yourself does not exclude compassion for other people. And compassion does not have to be all-consuming. Often, it is enough to pay attention to a loved one and ask how you can help them, and not plunge into their problems emotionally, forbidding yourself to enjoy life.
Secondly, if you love yourself and are happy, this does not mean that you are obliged to make everyone around you happy. Sometimes suffering can be a person’s choice at this stage of life. And, not accepting this choice, you become an egoist, trying to impose your desires. It turns out a clear conclusion: you can wish others happiness and be an egoist at the same time.
Thirdly, when you do not love yourself, you really cannot help anyone else. Caring for others, we influence them with our state. And if there is dissatisfaction in the soul, then you do not have positive vibes. So, self-love does not spoil the relationship, but only makes them better because it has nothing to do with egoism. It’s the first stage of mutual respect in the relationship.
Inattention, an unfulfillment of your promises, lack of gratitude and rude tone are the little things with which disrespect begins to grow. If the family has close emotional relationships, then this does not happen.
So, respect is a foundation of one’s own self-esteem, happiness, and satisfaction with oneself and life in general. In the process of starting a family, respect becomes a basis of healthy relationships that are free from insults, silence treatment, abuse, devaluation of the partner’s feelings, thoughts and desires.
