Keeping relationships positive during COVID-19

How do you feel your relationship is faring during the global pandemic? 

Relationships are the glue that bonds us all together. No two relationships are exactly the same. Our loved ones, our friends and family, our colleagues—all different, all equally important.  

If you were posed a question: 

• How close do you feel to the person you love?  
• Do you feel the pandemic has impacted on your relationship?  
• Has the pandemic highlighted something underlying in your relationship that you have not addressed? 

 then you might find that answering isn’t the easiest thing in the world. 

Try asking yourself the following, though: 

• If your partner were sent to prison for a crime they did not commit, how do you feel you would react with them being unfairly taken away from you? 

You’d likely feel intense loss, frustration and anxiety—not unlike a bereavement. Now, imagine you and your partner locked in that prison cell together. Would your reaction be the same? Or is there now a different dynamic in play? 

Life in lockdown can sometimes feel like that undeserved sentence. And your partner? They can begin to feel like a cellmate. 

Keeping your relationship afloat in unprecedented times can feel harder than trying to get through the pandemic itself. Every relationship is unique, and people come together for many different reasons. They all take work, commitment, and a willingness to adapt and change with your partner.  

Effective communication is part of what defines a healthy relationship. Sharing a common goal, setting expectations for what your future may look like together—these are things only made possible by talking honestly. Exploring and trying different approaches are part of a relationship, and learning from your mistakes is a pinnacle of understanding each other’s strengths and weakness. 

Compromise and balance build a cohesive bond to help strengthen a relationship. Effective partnerships come in many different shapes and sizes—it’ll always be the little things you remember. Your reactions to your partners actions will determine the basis for your relationship, so remember to laugh at the little things and discuss the important things.   

How about a checklist each day to ensure you and you partner are both getting what you need? Make your own checklist to ensure you relationship stays healthy during this pandemic and remember—take it one day at a time.  

Example checklist: 

• Effective communication? 
• Balance and compromise? 
• Goal setting? 
• Enjoyment and laughter 
• Being intimate? 
• Expressing emotions?