Taking your Partner for Granted

It’s easy to take your partner for granted when you have been together a long time.

You forget your partner has needs too, focusing on your own.

They may even tell you what their needs are but you tune them out because you’re so tired of hearing the same thing, what seems like day in and day out.

You begin to resent your partner and you become hypercritical of them.

You both begin to drift apart.

You feel like your partner is being controlled while they don’t feel valued or loved.

If this continues long term, what normally happens is the partner who doesn’t feel valued will say “enough is enough!! I’m now putting myself first!!”

So how do you as a couple come back from this? Is there hope for a couple who are caught up in this pain?

It’s time to sit down as a couple and communicate what both your needs are.

Maybe one partner works away from home and is only home monthly, leaving their partner feeling like a single parent with the kids and all they want is for the other parent to help raise the children and connect with them.

Maybe the partner works away from home because they can earn a lot more money and get on top of the bills and they see working away as a way to support the family.

Whatever the issue is there needs to be a conversation to resolve it.

Put the other person in the centre of the relationship and listen to understand. Don’t listen to work out how to get your point across after you’ve taken a breath.