by Annie (Young Observers)
So the story goes: Boy meets girl, girl likes boy, then boy and girl become a couple! Sometimes we become overly excited that we blind ourselves from what is really going on and we don’t see that a relationship isn't as healthy as it should be. We get all goo goo ga ga and then don’t even realize that we don’t want to be in a relationship like that, but by the time we figure it out we’ve already been affected in some way. What makes a relationship healthy? Most importantly, there needs to be mutual respect. Respect in a relationship means that each person values who the other is and understands the other person's boundaries. Trust is also a must. Jealousy is a natural emotion, but how a person reacts when he or she feels jealous is what matters. There's no way you can have a healthy relationship if you don't trust each other. I mean, think about this, both individuals had a life before they met each other, a life that involved other people. If you can’t trust your partner with their own friends, then maybe you shouldn’t be together. And if it is a big problem why not hang out with each others friends. It isn’t necessarily good if it is always one person’s group of friends that the couple hangs out with, mix it up a little. Things get bad really fast when a relationship turns into a power struggle if one person is always fighting to get his or her way. Everyone needs to make compromises, but neither person should have to pretend to like something they don't like or give up seeing friends.
