Myths and Facts about Relationships

Myth: A bad relationship is better than not have a relationship at all Fact:It is not necessarily good to be in a relationship. If you are not in a healthy relationship and you are in a relationship that includes physical, emotional or verbal abuse than it would be better to not be in a relationship at all. Myth: Men don’t have emotions the way that women do Fact:If you think that men don’t feel many of the same emotions as women, you are wrong! Just because many men like to hide their feelings or their emotions, this does not mean that they do not feel and have many of the same emotions that women do. Men and women simply tend to voice their feelings or show their emotions in a different manner. Myth: Love is easy and does not take work Fact:When you love someone, you are willing to do whatever it takes to make it work and this can actually take work. True love is not everlasting happiness that never includes arguing, conflict or sadness. If you are mistakenly thinking that love is easy or that you will not have to work to keep a relationship healthy—you are wrong! Myth: You can change a person to make them the perfect mate Fact:If you go into a relationship with the intention of changing a persons behaviors or qualities to those which are more suited or likeable to you then you will be disappointed. You can’t change people—only the person can make the decision to make change. Myth: Conflict is always a problem in a relationship Fact:A relationship that does not have conflict, in a healthy manner, is not necessarily a strong relationship. This is because, if there is no conflict, there is a good chance that there are things that are not being addressed in the relationship and that a lack of openness is leading to the reduced conflict. Healthy relationships will include healthy conflict that will foster growth in communication and bonding.