10 Tips for Achieving Happiness I wish I had Learned Sooner
8. Relationships should supplement, not augment your life
Friendships, and especially romantic relationships, should add to your life, not make your life. If you don’t know what you would do without somebody, feel like the world would end if your relationship did, or your happiness is dependent on your relationship in anyway, it is not a healthy relationship. When people are not whole, when they have emotional issues or insecurities, they cannot have a relationship that doesn’t involve need and fear. People latch onto relationships like they are lifeboats carrying them through troubled waters. What you are really doing is latching onto someone else in hopes of never having to face those personal issues. A relationship should not define you, it should add to you. It should not limit your life, it should enhance it. Happiness needs to be had independently before it can be shared with another. If you cannot be happy alone, you won’t be truly happy in a relationship, either.
