Have you ever wondered, if the basic qualities and emotional connection you seek from your partner is similar to what they’re expecting from you, then why do you both continue to struggle to meet each other’s needs?
The simple answer is that there’s a crucial distinction between talking about our needs and relating to them. The way we tend to give to our partner is different from how they receive it and vice versa. Alternatively, the way these qualities are understood, interpreted and expressed by our partner and us mean different things to us.
Let’s explore the basic qualities of Love, Honesty, Understanding and Respect, and while at it, think, reflect upon, and question yourself about what you’re seeking.
Lovecan be a sense of affection or care, a need to be with the person, know their world or to do things that will please them and physical attraction. Often, love is expressed as an intangible feeling. So, it’s worthwhile to reflect on what you mean by love, how you see, smell, taste, and feel love, how you experience it and when do you feel the most loved.
Even though you have your ways to show love it might not be the way that your partner wants or expects. You might understand it in your own way but not in the way that your partner would like you to. There are certain actions, thoughts, behaviours that might not be you or your style or be important to you. At this juncture, it’s important to explore how much you’re willing to make the effort to move out of your comfort zone to do something that matters to your partner? Often we’re not afraid to love but are afraid of not being loved back.
Honesty is to speak the truth. However, truth is not absolute. Understanding of the truth requires that you interpret it as a combination of how you see things and perceive them and the situational context. It’s important to note that no matter what the truth is, partners struggle to forget how they’re made to feel.
For example, think about how you feel when your partner expresses their honest opinion about your cooking. Their truth is that they don’t like it based on their sense of taste and likability but how open are you to receiving (hearing) that? Do you feel hurt and angry because you think that they’ve dismissed all your effort? If yes, then you might ask yourself, what did you want to hear? Were you looking for ‘honest feedback’ or an ‘acknowledgement for your hard work?’
Honesty involves being open to sharing emotions. How do you respond when your partner shares their feelings? Are you confident about how your sharing will be received or do you fear rejection? Alternatively, the fear of rejection exists because honesty isn’t received as expected. Here lies the challenge as honesty requires space and a mindset. Being honest (giving) is as important as receiving (accepting) honesty.
Understanding develops as you begin to know one another. It involves listening and empathy, recognition and realisation that being unique individuals you’re bringing into the relationship the differences in your outlook, upbringing, exposure, background, disposition, conditioning, and emotional baggage.
Often for understanding to take place, it needs to manifest itself in the form of an agreement followed by an action confirming the same. And here’s where the struggle begins so it’s important to distinguish between understanding and agreeing. Reflect on how you would feel and how open you are to your partner saying, ‘I understand but I don’t agree.’
Understanding is further complicated by the difficulty we experience when communicating our needs. Cultural outlook tends to promote the notion, ‘if they love you, they will understand your silence or what you want?’ The inherent expectation being that the partner will hear the unspoken and respond to the expectation of the other. Considering how often you tend to change your mind, how can you expect that your partner will be able to anticipate your needs and respond to them?
Respect is largely about how we treat and interact with each other regularly. The most effective way to earn respect is by treating the partner with as much respect. Respect connects to our self-worth and influences our interpretation of our partner’s behaviour. Often a disagreement, loud voice or snappy tone can be interpreted as being dismissive. And when you’re dismissed or not acknowledged you feel disrespected. So it’s important to look at theactions or behaviour, which make you feel respected/disrespected and communicate that. Simultaneously, it’s equally essential to discuss that for you to feel respected, what is it that you would like your partner to do. For each of these qualities, sharing and openly communicating one’s needs is a fundamental step towards building a healthy relationship.
The writer is a mental health counsellor. The views expressed are personal.