Are You Suffocating Your Partner, or Vice Versa?
All relationships experience space issues at one time or another. Whether you are the one feeling suffocated in your relationship or your partner is, there are ways to cope with this common issue without ending the relationship.
While the beginning stages of a relationship may find couples together 24/7, there will come a time when all that togetherness starts hampering the relationship. So how do you avoid losing your identity in a relationship, and allow for some time apart?
Don’t Forget your Identity
Before you were in a relationship, you had friends, hobbies, and activities you enjoyed on a regular basis. Don’t let the fact that you are in a committed relationship force you to give up the things you used to do. It’s perfectly healthy for couples to spend time apart. In fact, allowing yourself to engage in activities you participated in before the relationship can help make the time you spend together with your partner that much more special.
Consequently, if your partner feels suffocated by the relationship, it’s important to communicate with him about his feelings. Allow him the space he needs to do the things he used to do before the two of you became a couple.
Talk About It
If there are signs that one or the other of you is feeling trapped or suffocated by your relationship, it’s time to talk about it. Don’t let those signs go unnoticed; in doing so, you may end up single and alone because you or your partner failed to act on those feelings.
Communicating your desires to your partner for alone time is integral in preserving a healthy relationship. Who ever said that couples need to spend every waking moment together? It’s perfectly acceptable — and healthy — to spend time apart, doing whatever it is you did before you became part of a couple.
Of course, it’s just as important to listen to your partner’s feelings if he is the one who needs some space. Don’t take it personally, because in the majority of cases your partner’s feelings aren’t indicative of a problem with you. Instead, he just needs to be able to spend some time hanging out with old friends, enjoying activities he’s interested in and pursuing his old hobbies.
If one or the other of you needs space, let it happen! A successful relationship requires communication and alone time, and the time spent apart will bring you that much closer when you reunite again. A loving relationship means doing what it takes to ensure that both of you are happy, and if one of you feels suffocated by the relationship, it’s time to talk about it and take action.
By trusting your partner (and being given the same trust), then the time spent apart from one another should invigorate the relationship, not destroy it.
