It’s been a while since you have started dating but sooner or later couples go through a phase where they just can’t determine where the relationship is headed.
The initial butterflies are still there, but you have both reached a certain comfort zone around one another. So what do you call it?
You aren’t dating but you aren’t planning to get married either. Is it just a casual relationship or are you two getting serious?
While all this can be a bit confusing and being presumptuous is never a good thing because you don’t want to read too much into things too fast, here are a couple of sure signs that can help you determine whether you are in a stable relationship or you are still casually dating.
1. You’re not Jealous Anymore– When you are in a secure and stable relationship, you don’t get jealous of their friends, or feel threatened by their dreams and career.
You encourage each other to go have fun with their friends because at the end of the day you know you will come back to one another.
The fear of losing your partner to something superior to yourself, be it a career or a person, has gone. You two balance each other out and are supportive of your partner’s decisions.
2. You Communicate Better-You are not afraid to openly discuss about issues. In the beginning of a relationship, you avoided talking about certain things in order to avoid conflict or being judged.
But now that communication gap is gone. Your relationship has taken on a mature turn as you hear each other out, and respect their opinions in case of a disagreement.
Communication between you two is much more effective and reaching a decision, way easier.
3. You Know Each Other’s Schedule– You give each other plenty of space to work and socialise and you schedule your plans with him/her accordingly.
You understand when your partner has an important task at hand and you give them that breathing space without enforcing your own plans on them.
You are in sync with one another and you have established a system that still gives you plenty of opportunities to spend some quality time together.
You have a better understanding of one another and therefore don’t feel neglected even if they have an occasional busy schedule.
4. Small Arguments don’t have you running for the hills– Contrary to popular knowledge, having a few arguments aren’t all that bad.
Constructive arguments can let you two to assess each other’s emotional stability.
You understand it’s common for a couple to have minor arguments but rather than looking for an exit, you try to work on your problems.
Breaking up is the last thing on your mind now. Both of you make an effort to talk it out and reach a point of compromise.
If you are successfully able to find resolutions to these tiny rifts, it will increase your compatibility with one another and build a deeper foundation of trust and respect.
5. You Value Your Relationship More than Your Ego– Admitting your mistakes and wrongful behaviour doesn’t feel demeaning. You realise holding grudges and ego is petty and therefore proceed to resolve matters by apologising.
A healthy relationship doesn’t have any room for passive aggression, so you move on and let the smaller things pass by looking at the bigger picture.
6. You Feel Comfortable around One Another– Silences are no longer awkward. You don’t spend hours worrying over your looks and get up.
You don’t have to carefully strategise perfect intervals before texting him back so you may avoid coming off as too needy or clingy.
You know you are in a stable relationship when you two can spend hours with each other effortlessly being YOU, without any formal pretence.
7. Discussing The Future– How soon is too soon to be talking about the future? Well, there’s no perfect answer to that since it depends from couples to couples.
But if you two can talk about the future and work together to achieve that shared future of your dreams, then it’s a sure sign that you are secure about your relationship.
Planning a future together takes a lot of love and trust from both parties, and if you can see a foreseeable future together without feeling intimated, then you have definitely moved onto the next level of your relationship.
8. You’ve Met Their Family– Meeting his friends and being all over social while may be a sign that you two are in a relationship but meeting his folks is always a step above the ordinary since introducing you to his/her family is a great show of intimacy.
It means your partner feels secure enough to welcome you into their private life and shows you both are serious and committed to each other.
