Relationships

GrahamBarwick

I had always thought it would be
Love (romance, intimacy, passion)
Communication
Trust

But after being with my husband for 7 years, who is the most non romantic person I know (Don't think he even knows the word passion), I have come to realize that success in a relationship means so much more and have a new top 3

Love - (commitment to each other, respect for the other person, allows the other person to be who they are)
Communication - (Compromise, limiting passive aggressiveness, ability to discuss the hard topics)
Trust - (that they will do what is right in the relationship (he is gone a lot on business), Trust that I can count on him when I really need it, trust that when I feel my worst, he will surprise me in ways that will make me love him more)

There are so much more to include money, values, etc.. but these are the three that pop in my head the most.
I think understanding your definitions for words are extremely important... especially for expecting happiness in long term relationships

this is good and very well put.

I think that a lot of people dont see the romantic side of a long term partner after been together for a long time or get to the stage where its taken for granted or not seen anymore( not saying this in your case at all hun)

I like to buy flowers and go to fancy places etc etc but i do see that for me romantic isn't always about that. I like to take the pressure of my fiance by trying to remember to do my bit in the house, make her little boy's dinners for school etc. I see that in its own right as been more helpful than been romantic, although i do like time on our own and to cook for her and send the odd bunch of flowers.

For me Charlotte doesn't need to buy anything for me to be romantic, she just has to look at me in a certain way or whisper she 'missed me today' That is the kind of thing i love and costs nothing

yea, we never really had any real passion in our relationship, and that is something I had a tough time letting go of (still always want it), but there is so much more that makes a relationship, you have to ask what would I be losing if I made that my deal breaker?

passion is a big thing for me but it isn't always tearing each others clothes off, charlotte looks at me sometimes like no one has before(prob because i was so overweight lol) and that makes me happy and leaves me feeling loved all day. Whilst passion may not be there 100% of the day, i couldn't be with someone who was cold, i would find that very hard but i can't imagine i would fall in love with someone who at least wasn't on the same wavelength as me. but what is good for one isn't always for another

TheRoadDog

Trust / Honesty -- without it, what's the point?

Friendship / Love -- your mate is the most important person in your life. If they are not, what's the point?

Wisdom / Forgiveness -- the wisdom to realize that no indiviual incident is more important than your relationship as a whole. If you forgive and move forward, what's the point?

1WorkoutAtATime

trust
respect
commuinication/ freindship

skarr28

- Love/Passion/Intimacy (They all go together)
- Respect/Loyalty/Trust
- Communication

This, plus wisdom!

MrsOMG

Passion
Friendship
Understanding.

doctor_mike

1. Innate "connection" aka, that deep communication and bond that almost seems cosmic
2. Willingness to please from both parties
3. Emotional, physical, and intimate trust

CoryIda

Communication
Trust
Love/Respect equally (because they go hand in hand)

I don't think my husband (or simply having a husband) prevents me from doing anything I might like to do.

OSC_ESD

~ Compassion, desire, sex
~ Open communication, understanding, nonjudgmental
~ Happpiness, freedom, pleasure

Ok ok ... So that was nine ... but then I don't have to go without !

seekingthepatienceofjob

Honesty
Love
Respect
Sex
Communication
Trust and Freedom

I think the lack of one of these will break a relationship (well...sex could be an exception if you arent married and want to wait)

vmclach

1. Trust
2. Teamwork
3. Fun

break:
1. Lying
2. Power struggles
3. no communication

Heather2784

1. Communication
2. Trust/Honesty
3. Having fun together.

I can pretty much do what I want and my SO is okay with it. Obviously as long as it wasn't going out and doing something behind his back.

shivaslives

IMHO, it's just one thing - expanding your sphere of consideration to encompass them to the same degree as yourself. Your thoughts and decision become about "us", not "you and me". If you don't expand the sphere, you're being selfish. If you take them into consideration more than yourself, you will give up too much and resent them in the long run. Everything else feeds into this - trust, honesty, communication, loyalty, etc. It's worked for us for almost 25 years so we must be doing something right. :-)



Advice is worth exactly what you pay for it!

bpurc22

For me, its one. LOYALTY.

I won't have a relationship with a girl unless I know she's right, so I don't have to worry about the other things. I can go for weeks without seeing someone I'm in a relationship with because distance is nothing more than distance.

RaeLB

communication
respect
commitment

Phoenix1401

Relationships are like puppies, they're cute until they *kitten* on the floor"

Phoenix1401

Honesty and trust.



AND

OMFG! Ryan Gosling!!! *panties drop*

jennilovesryan

1. accepting each other's flaws while realizing that those flaws more than likely won't change
2. having the most fun when you are both together
3. never ever ever cheating

wbgolden

1) Sammiches
2) Paninis
3) Hoagies

MaximalLife

Sex
Money
Communication

tataliciousd89

1.Spontaneous SEX
2.Dirty SEX
3.Freaky SEX

Yeah, that'll pretty much do it! You forgot frequent SEX. Plus love and all that other crap.

tataliciousd89

But if I'm being honest it would have to be laughter, friendship, and ..... well sex.

raevynn

1. Innate "connection" aka, that deep communication and bond that almost seems cosmic
2. Willingness to please from both parties
3. Emotional, physical, and intimate trust

^^ this ^^

Apazman

What do you think is the top three things that make or break a relationship?

1. Great Conversation
2. Likes to laugh
3. Loves to give *kitten*

What is something that you wish your significant other would let you do for a day?

Her sister!

stablesong

Trust is a big deal to me. Communication is important. What I am struggling with now is making time for each other. My boyfriend and I are both busy, we hardly see each other lately. When we do, it's only for a little while. We definitely need to work on getting more quality time together and making it happen more often.

My boyfriend has never told me not to do anything, but I've never tried to do anything that would make him uncomfortable. I wish he would stop going out and partying/crashing in a house with a bunch of girls, etc when I'm not around, but I would never tell him he can't do it.

jtheroux89

Definitely trust, once your significant other hurts you it's a tough road to get back where you were, and often you never get back to that place.

Being considerate is also a huge factor that seems like it should be obvious in a relationship (Maybe I'm bitter because I just got out of a 2 year relationship where my birthdays, and all other holidays were completely blown off), but just showing that you care about them, it doesn't have to be gifts or flowers, just small, simple things can keep it alive and fun.

& finally, passion. No explanation for that

Pollyfleming

Assuming that love is the foundation

1. Kindness/consideration--you know, the kind you give to strangers--that's how you should treat the person you're married to/in a relationhship with! He still opens my door and I still say, "Thank you"
2. Knowing how to fight--we go at it like cats and dogs but we NEVER hit below the belt (for example, he's not once in 26 years brought up my weight when we're fighting) We also pretty much start angry but end up giggling--we both know we can be dumbasses.
3. Sticking to it--we all have ups and downs but stick to it and keep your mouth shut. Everyone, at some points wakes up and thinks, "What have I done?" That feeling will pass in a day or a week and you'll be back to realizing why you fell in love in the first place. There's no need to nag, *****, or complain.

Iamkim73

Intellectual equality ( I know that sounds odd but It really matters to me...)

LOVE

laughter ( esp having the same sense of humour...)

Nobody ever prevents me from doing anything... I may choose not to do certain things out of love.. that is different...

This^^.

Laughter is important

Hannaca1992

For me, assuming love is impled already, the most important thing is understanding & trust. I'm studying at uni about and hour and a half away from my boyfriend, so it gets really hard sometimes. But we trust each other so much, and he understands that sometimes, even though I miss him so much it feels like I've lost a limb or something, I can't talk to him because I have to study. So I think that being able to understand that I can't always be there, but that I love him more than anything is really really important (:

Also, being able to make each other laugh is so important! We always goof around and act silly, and he always knows how to make me smile (: I love him so much (: