Relationships come with many ups as well as a multitude of downs.
One day you and your loved one may be in complete harmonious bliss, but another day you may find that you are frustrated and angry with each other.
Relationships are a series of checks and balances, and everyone will experience some bad things with good ones.
At the height of passion, it can be difficult to read the signs of whether or not your loved one is truly “the one” for you.
It’s natural to be in an argument and ponder whether or not you are compatible with your significant other.
Every successful relationship faces challenges and questions whether the decision to stay together is right or not.
But no one knows what the future holds, so we can’t always be sure what the outcome of a relationship will really be until we come to an end, whether that end until death do us part or a deliberate separation.
At what point can we determine whether a relationship should end?
What must happen for a couple to realize that it’s time to separate?
At what point can a couple recognize that love is simply not enough?
There are surefire signs that a relationship is likely to fail.
If you’re wondering whether or not your relationship should continue, ask yourself if you’ve seen these signs show up in the relationship.
If you’ve seen these signs more often, it might be time to go :
Your Friends and Family Don’t Like Your Boyfriend
If the vast majority of your closest friends and family disagree with your partner, chances are they are the wrong person for you.
Friends and family know you best, and someone compatible will receive the same adoration as you.
Your Boyfriend Threatened Your Relationship With Endgame
That’s what I would consider the biggest red flag.
Ultimatums are a way of gaining power over another.
When your partner uses ultimatums, they undermine your ability to make decisions and put all the power in your hands.
It is not a healthy way to handle a situation as it uses fear and manipulation to control the situation.
Ultimately, nothing gets resolved when someone uses an ultimatum, especially in cases where the relationship is being threatened.
If your better half makes ultimatums instead of respecting you enough to solve a problem, take that as a cue that it’s time to leave.
There’s a Gap Between Their Ambitions
If you and your significant other have very different goals and ambitions in life, this is likely to cause tension in the relationship.
Maybe one of you likes to take on challenges, expand skills, and move forward in a career, while the other doesn’t have a meaningful career, doesn’t mind wanting better, and is generally lazier.
At some point, this difference can make you have to choose between your ambitions or the relationship, which can trigger negative feelings.
One of you puts more effort into the relationship
Relationships are constant work that requires two people to make equal efforts.
If you feel like you are putting more effort into the relationship than your significant other, it will throw everything off balance and things will start to get disorganized.
If you feel like you’re working harder on the relationship, it might be time to reevaluate.
Your Boyfriend Doesn’t Appreciate You
If your partner doesn’t appreciate the things you do for him, it means he expects you to do things for him, doesn’t make sense of your actions, or is ungrateful.
No matter what the reason, if your partner doesn’t appreciate what you do for him now, he probably never will.
Feeling underappreciated will eventually cause tension in the relationship, so consider why he doesn’t appreciate you and perhaps take this as a hint to find someone who does.
Lies Were Introduced Into The Relationship
If there’s one person you should be 100% honest with, that person is your better half.
Lying to your partner is a sign that he’s trying to hide something from you, and it’s probably not a good thing.
Lying breaks trust, which is one of the most important elements of a relationship.
Once lying is introduced into the relationship, it is very difficult to recover, simply because you will spend a lot of time wondering what else he is trying to hide from you.
If lies arise in your relationship, it may be time to turn around and walk away before the lies get any deeper.
You and your partner argue a lot
Every couple will argue from time to time.
However, if you find that you and your significant other are constantly fighting, that might be all you need to leave.
Arguments arise when two people have different views or opinions on an issue.
If you argue about things often, it means that you don’t agree on many issues.
If your discussions on the same issues continue, you are not finding a solution or a middle ground to the problem and nothing will be resolved.
You don’t argue in a healthy way
There is definitely a healthy and unhealthy way to argue.
When you and your boyfriend argue in a healthy way, you are both able to speak up and respect each other’s points of view.
By arguing in a healthy way, you learn your partner’s perspective and almost always find a solution.
In a faulty argument, opinions are one-sided, there is name-calling, ultimatums are used, and emotions are irrational.
If you find that his arguments tend toward the unhealthy side most of the time, it’s a sure sign that he doesn’t respect you or your feelings.
You Worry, You’ll Cheat
People in happy relationships don’t need to mentally prepare themselves not to cheat on their partners.
If you are far away and you have to tell yourself that you are not going to cheat on your partner, then you may have bigger problems in your relationship.
Having the “wandering gaze” means that there is a void in your current relationship, so it would be better to abandon your relationship than to find ways to make up for what is missing.
He Doesn’t Want To Spend Time With His Friends Or Family
It’s important for your boyfriend to get to know his friends and family.
Every person is a package, so when you walk into someone’s life, you take it all.
If your boyfriend never wants to spend time with his friends and family, this is a red flag that you should reconsider your relationship.
Now, I don’t mean that your boyfriend must want to go get drinks and watch a movie with his closest loved ones without you.
But he must, at least with some frequency, attend meetings and enjoy himself in the presence of his friends and family.
Be wary of an important person who will go to great lengths to avoid a role, because that means they are likely to have problems with the ones you care about the most.
While it may be fine at first, it can get to a point where he starts making you choose between your loved ones and him, which is never a good thing.
Your Boyfriend Apologizes
Honest attitudes never need to be explained or excused.
If your significant other always seems to be full of excuses or needs to explain or defend everything they do, then it may be time to consider a breakup.
Apologies are usually a sign of lying, a sign that your significant other was doing something they shouldn’t have done, or a sign that he just doesn’t have his life set up.
No matter the reasoning, apologies are not a good sign and should be interpreted as a red flag that something is simply not right.
Your two lives revolve around your boyfriend
All relationships require compromises, especially with major lifestyle decisions like where you live, how you go on vacation, or where you each work.
However, if all compromises slant in favor of your significant other, then something is just not right.
If your significant other controls all, or most, of these important decisions, it could be a sign that they are controlling or manipulating the relationship.
If all the big decisions seem to lean in your favor, it might be time to consider your relationship, especially if those decisions don’t make you happy.
You And Your Partner Don’t Talk About Anything Meaningful
To have a meaningful connection with your significant other, you need to talk and communicate.
If you find that you and your significant other have nothing to say to each other, it may be time to leave the relationship.
Unlike some problems, it’s hard to wake up suddenly and decide that you suddenly have something to talk about.
A problem like this will likely continue to grow rather than resolve.
You and Your Partner Don’t Spend Quality Time Together
Spending quality time together allows relationships to grow and flourish.
But having a good time together takes time and effort.
Over time, as the initial excitement starts to wear off, setting aside quality time together takes more conscious effort than when you first started dating.
This can be especially true for couples who live together because when you see one person every day, it’s easy to forget to set aside quality time.
If you and your significant other don’t have a good time together, it could be a sign that things aren’t going in a good direction, especially if your boyfriend is resistant to buying time.