{"id":2231,"date":"2019-05-26T14:46:43","date_gmt":"2019-05-26T14:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/?p=2231"},"modified":"2019-05-26T14:46:43","modified_gmt":"2019-05-26T14:46:43","slug":"why-you-need-to-get-to-know-yourself-before-a-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/26\/why-you-need-to-get-to-know-yourself-before-a-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Need to Get to Know Yourself BEFORE a Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"s1\">By\u00a0 Kacey Mya Bradley\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">When you love someone, you learn all the little details\u2026 but when we\u2019re single, we often neglect this same step. It\u2019s time to get to know yourself.<\/span><\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Relationships are our favorite double-edged sword. Spending a sizable chunk of your life with a significant other can be one of your most rewarding, exhilarating experiences. But when (or if) that relationship turns sour,\u00a0<strong>nothing is more miserable<\/strong>. And as\u00a0<em>soon<\/em>\u00a0as we get out of\u00a0a bad relationship, only a few weeks pass until we\u2019re on to the next one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">We may refuse to believe it, but many of us think the best way to solve our problems is to find someone new to love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It can be obvious or subtle. Our moods improve when someone new walks into our lives. Many of our daily actions become motivation to win the newbie\u2019s heart. We think things will be different with them. Things will be\u00a0<em>better<\/em>. Yet further down the line,<strong>\u00a0the breakup happens again.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The truth is, this cycle of relationship is\u00a0just another pattern\u00a0that we as humans are drawn to. Without a significant other by our side, we often feel lost or incomplete. But what if there\u2019s a different side to this feeling?\u00a0<strong>What if feeling lost or incomplete is actually\u00a0<em>normal<\/em>?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It turns out we tend to ignore a critical step in moving forward from relationships. This step is the whole\u00a0<span class=\"s2\">\u201cfiguring yourself out\u201d<\/span>\u00a0part. Chances are you spent a pretty decent amount of time getting to know everything about your ex. Now, when they\u2019re long gone, how much do you remember about\u00a0<em>yourself<\/em>?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Ponder over a few of these questions:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>What are your long-term and short-term goals<\/em>?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>Do you feel content in the most important areas of your life<\/em>? (<em>health, career, networking, etc<\/em>).<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>Do you feel confident in yourself and your abilities<\/em>?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>What makes you happy<\/em>?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Questions like these are what you need to ask yourself before you embark on a new relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">You may not know the answers yet, and that\u2019s okay. The point is,\u00a0<strong>you have to begin looking inward, loving yourself, before you focus on a relationship.<\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t fill a void with what you think is love.\u00a0<span class=\"s2\">Fill the void with positivity and change\u2014<\/span>in your mental health, in your career, and your life in general.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">There are many steps you can take to loving yourself in a full way and catalyzing positive change in your life. Here are a few suggestions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol class=\"ol1\">\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Eat healthier.<\/strong>\u00a0When you eat clean, you feel better. Your body will also thank you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Exercise.<\/strong>\u00a0This improves both the body and the mind.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Spend some time alone with your thoughts.<\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t just sit and stare at the ceiling, though. Take yourself on a nature walk, meditate, practice yoga, or just relax and do what you enjoy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Sleep more.<\/strong>\u00a0When you\u2019re tired, you become cranky and your thoughts can easily turn negative. Having enough sleep will give your body the rest it needs and the time to regenerate and get going.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Practice positive affirmations.<\/strong>\u00a0These basically build on the notion that you are what you think.\u00a0<span class=\"s2\">Turn your positive thoughts into words and eventually actions<\/span>. This purifies your thoughts and resets the way you think.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Vent creatively.<\/strong>\u00a0Whether it\u2019s music, poetry, dance, painting, or something else, the best art comes from letting go of anger, sadness, or frustration.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Go on a\u00a0road trip.<\/strong>\u00a0The open road can cure many wounds.\u00a0<span class=\"s2\">Grab some friends for a weekend getaway<\/span>\u00a0or a day trip adventure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Look back on your relationships and assess the damage.<\/strong>\u00a0As much as it may hurt to reflect on the past, analyzing your relationships can help you in the future. Figure out what worked and didn\u2019t work, so you can watch out for warning signs when the time comes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">When you learn to love yourself, you\u2019ll be amazed when potential lovers just start popping up out of nowhere. That\u2019s the magic of self-love\u2014when you don\u2019t force yourself to find someone and focus on your life instead,<strong>\u00a0falling in love again happens naturally.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And after all, a relationship is two halves that make a whole. Wouldn\u2019t you rather make sure you can sustain yourself before becoming half of something bigger? Be the better half and take care of yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0 Kacey Mya Bradley\u00a0 When you love someone, you learn all the little details\u2026 but when we\u2019re single, we often neglect this same step. It\u2019s time to get to know yourself. Relationships are our favorite double-edged sword. Spending a sizable chunk of your life with a significant other can be one of your most rewarding, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1120,321],"tags":[1150,1149,1155,1151],"class_list":["post-2231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-relationships","category-for-singles","tag-dating-apps-for-muslims","tag-dating-muslims","tag-muslim-websites-for-marriage","tag-online-dating-service-for-muslims"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2231"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2284,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions\/2284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}