How To Know If You're Really Ready For A Relationship
How do you know when it's time to take the next step?
Even though your palms are sweating and it's getting harder to speak, you've finally mustered up the courage to confront the cute guy that you've been crushing on for months.
It's almost as if time stops for those first few seconds after you push your nerves aside and just tell him how you feel; and when he says that he feels the same, you can't help the smile that breaks.
But what is love and what isn't? And what counts as a relationship, and are you honestly ready for it?
Although you both seem to be on the same page, there's a difference between having the guts to be open about your feelings and actually being ready for a relationship.
Declaring your feelings for someone is a great start — and you should definitely feel proud that you allowed yourself to be vulnerable, even though it meant that you could have gotten hurt.
Sure, you’re feeling high on adrenaline and happiness, and you even might want to make things official immediately. And as much as you want to push the boundaries of your new feelings and jump headfirst into things, it’s important to slow down and take some time to make sure that you are ready for what getting involved with another person might bring.
But what exactly does that entail? And how can you make sure that you’re where you need to be — mentally, at least—to start fresh on a new relationship?
In the YourTango Experts video above, relationship guru John Gray stresses the fact that before you jump into anything new, you need to be in the right mindset.
This can mean accepting some things about yourself, or even just acknowledging important aspects of your behavior, your internal thoughts, or issues that you might have had in your previous relationship.
In other words, being between relationships is the best time to air all the bad residuals and clear your heart and mind. After all, how can you figure out if you're ready to take the next step if you're not even secure in your single status?
YourTango experts Tammy Nelson, Susan Heitler, Annie Gleason and Margaret Paul back this up by saying it's important to make sure that you're comfortable with who you are as a person so you don't end up losing yourself along the way.
Whether you’re single, in a relationship, or choosing to just keep things light and date around for a while, you need to make sure that you’re a whole person with a good mindset, and you need to learn to love yourself and recognize your needs.
Always love yourself first and foremost. If you’re not willing to do it, why should other people?
If you're having a personal or relationship issue, reach out to one of our experts! They're here to help, and they'd love to talk to you.