FIRST THINGS YOU MUST KNOW BEFORE GOING INTO A RELATIONSHIP

The first and most important thing is to know yourself. Not everyone fits into your life plan, and every relationship you walk into will have implications according to the kind of person you walk into a relationship with. So you must know yourself so you can figure out who your life can accommodate and who can accommodate you.

 

Then you must appreciate and enjoy being alone. A lot of people do not appreciate being alone and so do not enjoy it. You must value being single, because it is at this point that you value yourself as a person, and learn to negotiate your worth in every conversation and negotiation. When you appreciate and enjoy being single, you don’t make decisions hastily, you make sure you walk into properly defined relationships.

 

You must never see being single as a disadvantage.

 

You must also confirm to yourself that you are ready to be in a relationship. We always have a way of putting sentiment before reason, and nothing destroys relationships like sentiments. You must be prepared for what you are walking into and you must anticipate certain challenges out of your understanding of the kind of relationship you are in. Most things don’t just happen.

 

You must also be ready for the responsibilities that come with being in a relationship. Yes, relationship is not just merely a responsibility, it also comes with responsibilities. You must be prepared for this reality. You must count the cost and know that your life is no longer your own. You must know that the choices you make affect other people. You must see what your actions are capable of doing to your relationship and you must be ready to do things right and avoid doing the wrong things no matter the justification.

 

Finally, you must learn to, and actually love yourself. You cannot love another if you do not love yourself. You cannot say you love yourself and not be interested in taking good care of yourself, by staying healthy and living a purposeful life. If you eat poison in the name of food, you will feed the person you claim you love poison as well. If you misplace priorities in the name of having fun, you will frustrate the person you love with issues like that, especially when you complain about being with them.

Do you love yourself?