Relationships are no walk in the park. Even before all the social medias, Tinder and the constant easy access communication with an ex-partner all existed-- relationships can have their issues. Nowadays, those issues have only multiplied, making fewer and fewer couples last in the long run.
There are plenty of reasons to continue working on a struggling relationship, but there are also reasons to walk away. These are serious red flags for a relationship on the road to major issues.
There has been unfaithful tendencies.
Being unfaithful is one of the worst things that can happen in a relationship. I'd love to say that everyone can move past it, but most likely you can't. They don't say, “once a cheater always a cheater” for no reason. If you, or your partner, has cheated on each other this is a big red flag that either you're not with the right person, or you're not ready to be in a serious relationship. Either scenario is a reason to walk away.
Staying in a relationship that struggles with faithfulness will just take an emotional toll on the people involved. Without a trusting foundation, relationships literally will not survive, it's as simple as that. With all the technology today and the hookup culture we are living in, cheating is easier than ever. After it's happened once, you can forget about your SO relaxing and not being suspicious whenever you pick up your phone or go out without them.
I don't want to say “you don't cheat on someone you love” because I don't 100% believe that's true. I think people do still love their significant other, even if they have cheated. However, I do think it means the cheater realistically isn't ready for the relationship. If one person is committed to the relationship and the other isn't, you both need to part ways.
You're living in memories of the past.
The honeymoon stage of a relationship is always great. Everything is new and exciting. The emotional connection is starting up, the sexual connection is blowing your mind and you guys haven't had your first fight yet. Who wouldn't love that? Everything is carefree and fun.
But you can't live in this kind of paradise forever. Eventually, things will settle down, you'll be used to each other and even start to get on each other's nerves here and there. That's totally natural.
What isn't natural is getting to a point where you don't remember that last time you truly enjoyed your significant other. You don't remember the last time you guys weren't fighting. The last time you went on a date was weeks ago and your intimacy levels are just non-existent.
Every couple will go through rough patches, but you need to realize when a bad few weeks is turning into a bad relationship.
It's an emotional rollercoaster.
Good relationships are not an emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows. It's consistently good, with some really great days. If a relationship feels like one day you're on top of the world so in love, and the next day you're in your bed crying yourself to sleep, it's time to walk away.
Not every day is going to be perfect, but that's no reason to justify having regular bad days. If both partners are respecting each other, giving their all to the relationship and a good match, bad days are far and few in between.
Emotional rollercoasters are never beneficial for a relationship, even if the good days are amazing, the constant bad days prove there is something wrong.
Your relationship is starting to sound like a broken record.
Every relationship has an issue come up here and there. That's totally normal. You guys talk about it, find the problem and work towards fixing it. What isn't normal is having the same problem come up, over and over again.
Whether the issue is cheating, lying, emotional support or making time for each other, once discussed it really shouldn't continue to be a problem. If you're starting to feel like your partner is a broken record with excuses for not fixing a problem, it's time to walk away.
The truth is maybe they can't change what is wrong, or they just don't really care to. Either way, if it's something that continues to bother you, it's time to realize it's not going to change.
Your futures don't line up anymore.
We change all the time and that's totally ok. Maybe when you first started dating you both wanted the exact same picture perfect future together. Now, one of you wants to move to the country and one of you wants to live in the city. You want a family and they don't want to even think about children.
This is a part of life. Change is natural. But instead of feeling like you can sacrifice your happiness for them, or letting them sacrifice for you, it's important to realize it's better to move on separately.
Changing what you want for someone else might seem like a good solution, but in reality, it's only a short-term fix. Eventually, you, or your partner, will wake up one morning realizing this wasn't the future they wanted.
You love them, but you're not in love with them.
It's totally possible to love someone, but not be in love with them. It's also even possible that you were in love with your partner at one time, but no longer are. This isn't a reason to keep trying to make it work.
If you feel like you've given it your all, but still just don't feel that “in love” emotion that's a perfectly good reason to walk away. So many couples completely in love can't seem to make it work long term, why try for that with someone you're not in love with?
No reason to leave, isn't a reason to stay.
If you find yourself looking for a reason to get out of your relationship than you already have it. So many times people stay with their significant other purely because there isn't a big problem. That's a problem all in and of itself, though.
You never need a reason to leave a relationship, just wanting to do it is more than enough. That shows you that there clearly is something missing, and it's better to address that sooner rather than later.
