What To Do When Your Friends and Your Girlfriend Don't Gel

There are many reasons why couples round the world struggle to sustain a healthy relationship. A major problem that sometimes crops up is that a person's significant other just doesn't seem to like his closest friends. If you are facing the same situation, you have probably had to confront a lot of negative energy from your wife or girlfriend. However, you needn't think that this situation is beyond redemption. You can still make your relationship work, if you are prepared to take the right steps.

The Cause May Not Be Your Friends

If you have just got past the honeymoon period of your relationship, what you are facing is not very uncommon. You need to consider the possibility that your partner is probably reacting to the fact that other things have started to edge their way into your life, which she thinks are pulling you away from her. Your friends may be one of these 'externalities.' Perhaps she doesn't have too many close friends herself, so she struggles to understand your exclusive relationship with your friends. If you think that, at the end of the day, what she is grudging is not the personalities of your friends, but the fact that you may be moving away from her, you need to reassure her that she is mistaken. Even if you can't spend as much time with her as before, try to make the time you do spend special.

When She Genuinely Doesn't Like Them

Obviously, there is also the possibility that she genuinely doesn't like certain friends of yours. If that's happening, you have to accept the fact that she has a right to form her own judgments and impressions, and those could be very different from yours. However, check with her who she doesn't like and why. You should also tell her why you like them. If you both are open and communicative, you will prevent barriers from forming between you two.

Making Plans With Her and Friends

If you perceive that your wife or girlfriend doesn't like some friends of yours, respect her for that and don't include her into plans she would rather not be a part of. If you have been pressurizing her to share the company of people she doesn't like, it will adversely affect her mood, and all her grievances will be rightly directed towards your behavior.

Never Give Up Your Friends

The one thing you should never do is discard your friends or drift away from them just because your wife or girlfriend doesn't like them. A healthy relationship can only be sustained when two people are prepared to accept that they both have the right to an independent space for themselves. Your friends are part of that space. The moment you get pressurized into giving them up, you will start forming a grudge against your partner, and it will come out in an ugly and hurtful manner in a fight.

Finally, to maintain a happy relationship with your girlfriend, you need to always remember to communicate clearly. The more you repress yourself, the more difficult it will become to have a calm conversation on the issue.

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