Because searching for love can be exhausting. Here are 30 green flags in a relationship.
1. Willingness To Forgive
“When you make a mistake/speak in anger/etc, rather than hold a grudge or try to punish you. Willingness to admit fault and take responsibility when they make a mistake/speak in anger/etc and work on their own negative behaviors”.
2. When You Like The Person That You Become When You’re With Them
“Everyone projects a different version of themselves around different people and if you don’t like who you become when you’re with someone, it’s probably not going to be the healthiest relationship”.
3. The Ability To Coexist In Companionable Silence
“A friend of mine once said ‘When silence is not cringe, the friendship is real’. And I think she is right and a huge green flag”.
4. If It’s A Chore You Both Hate, You Do It Together
“My late husband and I both HATED folding laundry, but it had to be done. So we always did it together. Made the chore less painful”.
5. They Worry About You
“I was dating a guy, had to drive his car to get him from a situation, and wrecked his car due to mechanical failure. I called my mama to come get me so we could go get him. Then, had to tell him I’d wrecked his car. His first question was, “Are you okay?” He was a keeper.”
6. They Take Care Of You (No Matter What)
“No matter how angry you are at one another. You will still go out of your way, or they go out of their way to help. I’ll be furious, but I’ll angrily make my wife her favorite dinner even though I don’t want to eat”
7. Make Their Favorite Meal
“I came home from working a 12 hour shift one night to a full dinner with my favorite dessert. Never had a girlfriend just decide to cook me a full meal for me to come home to like that”.
8. They Are Kind
“When you’re on a road trip and your partner feeds you fries and helps you drink your soda or whatever, I think that’s such a nice, simple gesture of kindness”.
9. Empathy
“I feel like there’s a lot of detailed examples that largely boil down to two things: empathy and emotional maturity”
10. Genuine Support Their Goals
“Even if that means you two will have to go long distance for a while or will have to have conflicting work schedules or it will make your relationship harder in some way. If they love you and want you to be happy, they will be genuinely interested in what you want to do and will try to support you to do that in whatever way they can”.
11. Sharing Your Life’s Details
“Telling the little details about your day. There’s something really precious about that, and you feel in-tune with the other person”.
12. They Take Criticism Seriously
“When your SO takes criticism from you seriously without immediately trying to turn it back on you. If the converse is also true, you two stand a great chance of going the distance”.
13. Connect After An Argument
“Being able to emotionally connect even after an argument is life-changing. Make sure you can continue talking to each other with patience and empathy”.
14. Disagreements Are Normal
“Being able to have a healthy conflict without fear that conflict will cause the end of the relationship. It’s a green flag (and a relief) to have natural disagreements and communication about those disagreements without constant fear that someone’s going to hit the nuclear option”
15. They Remember Little Details
“Your partner does things for you without asking and remembers little details. For example, I like eating with a fruit fork (the smaller version of the dinner fork). Anyway, my partner remembers this and will grab it for me when we’re dishing up food. Another good one is they make you feel appreciated”.
16. Laughter
“And also: I’ve been with my partner for 40 years (this month!) and I still smile when I see him across a room. He still makes me laugh and my heart soars when I think of him”.
17. Small Gestures
“I drink a lot of water, and sometimes my bf would stay until late and I would fall asleep. Before leaving, he always made sure I had a glass full of water on my nightstand in case I woke up thirsty. It’s always the small details”.
18. Communication Is Key
“You don’t feel like they are playing games. Communication is direct and you don’t feel too nervous about what you should or shouldn’t do or say, and you’re not worried about what they do or don’t do or say”.
19. Active Listening
“Not just being there while you talk, actually giving opinions, advice if asked for, and generally caring for the conversion”.
20. Trust
“They trust you to stay at their apartment alone. You give your SO your trust, and they make you feel safe”.
21. They Never Judge
“Talk things through BEFORE it becomes a screaming match, not after. Asks about boundaries/traumas and doesn’t judge you for them, but instead respects them”.
22. They Respect Their Preferences
“They respect your food issues, whether preferences, allergies, and all that”.
23. They Show Interest
“If she shows equal interest in hanging out with you. If it feels like you’re dragging them into going on a date, they’re really not into you, no matter what they may say”.
24. Your SO Wants To Make You Happy
“You want your partner to be happy and not the other way around. Oftentimes people want to be in a relationship to solely make themselves happy”.
25. It Feels “Easy”
“Effortless. Unforced. Natural. This is a good sign of a real connection. Compromise feels like second nature. You both breath thoughtfulness and consideration towards each other. You figure things out, together”.
26. They Take Your Recommendations Seriously
“You recommend them a book or movie and they actually take the time to check it out”.
27. They Do The Small Things
“It’s the small things. The doing something just because it will make your partner smile and expecting/wanting nothing in return”.
28. They Are Honest
“Is your partner comprehensive when you are sincere and honest? Are you free to say what you think without being scolded?”.
29. They Attend Your Family’s Events
“Willingness to attend family events/get to know your family, regardless of how difficult it might be”.
30. They Don’t Care About People’s Opinions
“Maybe this is just me, but when someone doesn’t care too much about people’s opinions of them. like when they aren’t afraid to act goofy in front of people they don’t know. I absolutely love people that don’t take themselves too seriously”.
