Every once in a while, you will feel stuck in a relationship if it goes on for too long. Does that feeling mean that it’s time to end things or is it just a temporary challenge you should overcome together?
It can be both, depending on the situation, and in some cases, it might be hard to determine what exactly should you do.
This article will cover the topic and it will give you some insight on how to see whether or not the relationship can be saved, or it’s time to end it.
Should you Keep or End a Relationship when you Feel Stuck
Being in a relationship for a long time inevitably brings periods of stagnation from time to time, but that doesn’t mean that you should let doubts define the outcome of the situation.
Feeling stuck could be a sign that the relationship is irreparably flawed, but it could also be one of these periods that come and go and you should let them pass. After all, we all have boring days even outside a relationship, which doesn’t mean that life itself is boring.
In case you feel trapped and your partner is making you feel like you cannot leave if you want to, that’s a sign of an abusive relationship and it means it’s time to end it, no matter how hard it may seem.
Other signs that it’s time to end things include:
- You feel suffocated;
- You feel better away from your partner;
- Your opinion doesn’t matter;
- All your free time is spent in worries about the relationship;
- You feel patronized;
- Your partner has cheated at least once.
If that’s not the case, then you might want to take some steps to find out if it’s time to cut it off or if you will be able to go through that together.
Try New Things Together
Being stuck in a routine is one of the main reasons why people start feeling like the relationship is in stagnation. Instead of looking around you for an alternative, you can experience the relationship as it was in the beginning if you do things together that let you break free from the routine.
Do something new together that will allow you to take your mind off of the trivial daily things and will let you appreciate your partner anew.
Take a dancing class, travel somewhere together, or even just go out for one evening somewhere you’ve never been before, and the “stuck” feeling will be easily shaken off.
Discover the Root of a Repetitive Argument
Are you really arguing about cleaning or is there something laying under the surface of the seemingly trivial argument?
A person could be triggered by small things due to past things that happened in his childhood and left a mark, or simply according to the way he was raised. Try to address the root cause by asking him why exactly is this little thing so important to him and try to dig deeper.
Only after you identify the root cause you can work to solve the issue permanently and put a stop to repetitive arguments that kill the relationship.
Do Some Self Reflection
There might be something bothering you deep inside that causes the stuck feeling, which needs to be resolved before you’re able to move on. Reflect on yourself, make a not of how you are feeling and be completely honest with yourself.
It might be a problem in your job that is causing you to feel stagnant. We often project such problems onto our partners, while there’s nothing wrong with them.
Ending your relationship won’t help you solve your career problems and could only result in you losing someone pressure so before you take any action make sure you are completely aware of your feelings and problems.
Think About the Good Times
When we spend a long time with somebody, it is easy to forget how much we appreciated him in the beginning and how happy we initially were to have that somebody in our lives.
We tend to notice his negative traits more and we forget the reasons why we fell in love in the first place. Try not to fall into a downward spiral of thinking about his negative traits, but instead try to recall some happy memories of the times when everything was okay.
Only focus on those characteristics that have improved, and not on the things you liked but somehow the person stopped doing them. Change is normal and it happens constantly throughout our lives, and it doesn’t mean you should dismiss somebody just because he’s not the same.
Focus on what got better or the positive characteristics that stayed the same and you will instantly appreciate your partner again.