Hi everyone,

Relationships can be hard? amazing? fulfilling? annoying? All of these really! Relations are something that is different for everyone and the way your relationships develops with your “other” really depends on the way you are as a person and also how they are as a person. Writing this on my fourth-year anniversary with my boyfriend has made me realise how complicated sharing your life with someone else can be and what issues and benefits can come from it.

My first piece of advice would be to try and step away from comparing your relationship to the ones you may see online through platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and anything else you may use. We have now developed a habit to compare our lives constantly to lives of celebrities or models online rather than appreciating what we already have in life which is really unhealthy for your self-esteem and the relationships you have with others. You start to look down on the people in your life because they do not compare to the people you see on your social media profiles, which lead very different lives to you and are completely different. I try to take small breaks from social media to help with this because at some point I have also caught myself comparing my relationships to others online as well and it later makes me feel horrible and creates a bad feeling in the relationship. Just try switch off for a while and spend time with your significant other, focus on them and what you have between each other, not the unrealistic relations online.

Another thing that I would stress to be very important in a relationship would be to listen to each other. I have seen first-hand relationships end because of lack of communication and converse of feelings between one another. You may not always see eye to eye on everything but its key to listen to the opinions and feelings of your other and try to compromise. Think about it, you know you probably don’t have the exact same interests and outlooks on life but you need to respect their voice as much as they respect yours. I and my boyfriend used to often argue about silly topics but if you take the patience and commitment to hear each other out, I promise you that you will see a difference in one another.

Discussion of relationships also includes a discussion of a different type of relationship, and that would be the one you have with yourself. I want to stress the importance of the relationship you have with yourself and the self-love you need to possess in order to be in a healthy relationship. Sometimes having someone by your side makes you think it helps, but I see it to be best to first work out the issues you may hold within yourself in order to be able to fully love later on in life. Give yourself some space and come back when you are ready to find someone to share everything with.

One of the last points I want to touch on would be to appreciate. Look at what you have been given and what has been put into your path and appreciate it. You could have ended up with a completely different person who could be not the best for you and you’re well being. Make sure you and your significant other make it known to one another what you see in each other, what you love but also what could be better as you should also appreciate the changes in the relationships.

I hope you have taken something from this and allow yourselves to apply it to your relationships with others and your self. Do good and not damage to one another and yourself.

Love, Kasia x