Moving On From Relationship To Partner Relationship

What's a partner relationship? Do you think you're in one? Does it sound like some business dealing? It may sound like that but it's got nothing to do with business and everything to do with love and commitment. Relationships are complex, anyone can be in a relationship. It could be the thing that your little nephew has with the cute girl who's his locker neighbor at school, or that hot affair that your neighbor is having with that hot guy she met on Tinder.

You can even know someone girls that are on a relationship with guys that are on a couple of more relationships. So you see anyone can have a relationship. Anyone can have a few experiences and call that a romance. Also, anyone can meet someone new at a bar or at the gym or at the office, "test the waters" for a while and then take him to her parents and introduce him as the boyfriend. 

What not everyone can have (because it takes some time to get there) or be part of, is a partnership or a partner relationship. A partner relationship is a very stable one, more stable than the two people involved in. To get to be in a partnership you'll need building blocks and that could be all your past relationships. So the sum of all the experiences you have in a relationship can result in it dying out or it can become something more solid, something greater.

Relationships are full of emotion, of beautiful and intense emotional attachments that can take various directions, they can either dissipate into thin air, turn into a big mess or they can evolve into something more important, more solid. 

A partner relationship is for couples that know and love each other and that have waded through all the tough times and BS and managed to land into something stronger than the relationship itself. It's two people who bring elements of who they are, and yes, give a little or their autonomy to form a new identity as a couple. It doesn't mean that you have to give up who you are, it means that you're both committed to building a partnership that's going to enrich you as individuals. 

A partner relationship unlocks the potential of each of you as human beings, it boosts the couple's overall happiness and confidence and can give them a new meaning of life. 

So how do know if you've entered in a partner relationship? Well, there are some differences between a relationship vs a partner relationship. You'll be working together as a team, even when you disagree with various issues. You'll both be working toward the same goal.

What other differences are there? Keep reading.

In a relationship, the feelings are not altogether clear, that's why there's some instability; half the time you're trying to figure out how he feels and most probably he's doing the same with you. In a partner relationship, feelings have already been established and solidified. Here you take those feelings and you prove them every day. 

You have to find the feelings in a relationship but in a partner relationship you prove how real they are. 

A relationship is the result of two people giving into their chemical connection, a need to be vulnerable with each other, that phase in which everything is pleasant and exciting, the so-called "honeymoon phase". You two have decided you know each other enough so you figure you like each other fine and make the decision to be in a relationship.

Really liking or even really loving him is not enough to form a partner relationship. They are created over time, (not overnight) because that is how you build trust. You get to be in a partner relationship when you have gone through all the disagreements, the successes, the failures and you're building a life together were both of you feel safe.

When you're in a relationship, especially if you're in a new one, you have all these yearnings, and butterflies and intense feelings that are confused with love, you think about them and equal them with romance.

You know you are in a partner relationship when those pretty feelings turn into ugly ones that you have to admit are as real as the loving ones. You are not only honest with him but you're also honest with yourself. When you're in a partner relationship, your faith in yourself is solid, you're not dependent on the relationship to feel whole. Both of you are totally confident.

When you're in a relationship you are most of the time in an insecurity state. You don't know him very well and it's the same for him. You're not sure if there's going to be hurt, or how much further the other person is willing to go to win your heart and fight for the relationship.

When you're in a partner relationship, you have already found a rhythm, feelings are not on doubt, they are solid, so you both are on the same page when it comes to giving into each other's needs.

Relationships sometimes begin just for the purpose of seeking pleasure. Maybe you need to escape from pain, from loneliness, from rejection, from insecurity. Those bad decisions almost always return, causing an even worst pain.

Partner relationships are about seeking a purpose, not just pleasure. You don't depend on only pleasure to seek reassurance and attention and affirmation. The purpose is what keeps the relationship on track, not the butterflies and the anxiety and the nerves.

When you're in a relationship you see the best parts of him and you decide that that's what you want, you want those parts for yourself because they make you feel good (not lonely, or bored, or jealous), you feel good when you're around him, so you decide to share things with him and that benefits you.

When you're in a partner relationship, you don't always feel good, there are tough times. You can't be selfish in a partner relationship, sometimes you have to put aside your needs to help him get through a tough day or a tough time. Not all days are exciting, some days are stressful and they could be full of tears and anger. You have to face demons to move on. But the beauty of partner relationships is that you're not alone to endure all that, there's someone by your side to endure it with you. Someone that doesn't scare easily, someone that supports you as you support him.

Quotes always inspire us and help us discern over relationships, love, friendships, life. Like everything in life, there are positive and negative things about partner relationships. We talked about the differences between relationships and partner relationships, depending on what you're looking for, each has its own appeal.

Take a look at these quotes that talk about positive and negative aspects of partner relationships. They apply for any kind of relationships but we hope they help you discern on what kind of relationship you are right now.

"A loving relationship is one in which the loved one is free to be himself -to laugh with me, but never at me; to cry with me but never because of me; to love life, to love himself, to love being loved. Such a relationship is based upon freedom and can never grow in a jealous heart." - Leo F. Buscaglia

"...to be in any sort of relationship where you do not express yourself, simply to keep the peace, is a relationship ruled by one person and will never be balanced or healthy." -Bronnie Ware

"...good relationships are based on kindness. On putting the person you love before yourself. On thinking of what you can do to make the person happy, Good relationships require kindness, commitment, and appreciation." -Jane Green

"No partner in a love relationship... should feel that he has to give up an essential part of himself to make it viable." -May Sarton

"A bad relationship is like standing on broken glass, if you stay you will keep hurting? If you walk away, you will hurt but eventually, you will heal." -Autumn Kohler

"The wrong person isn't breaking their back to make you happy. So. stop breaking your back for them." -Sonya Parker

Making the transition from relationship to partner relationship takes times because trust has to build. You can't rush a partner relationship, you have to work together to get there. Remember that what makes the difference between the two is the solidity, the certainty that you don't have to guess anymore if he loves you or if he's there for a lifetime, you just know and it's the same for him.