Never Take Advantage Of Your Forever Person
By January Nelson
Don’t take advantage of your partner’s kindness. Don’t use them as a punching bag, even if they allow it to happen without consequence. Don’t say mean things and engage in inappropriate behaviors, simply because you’re sure they’re going to forgive you in the end.
They might love you too much to walk away when you mess up — but that doesn’t mean you have permission to keep making mistakes without being held accountable for them. If your partner isn’t going to have high expectations for you, then you should at least set high expectations for yourself. Promise yourself you’re going to be the best partner you can be, the best human you can be.
Remember, just because you get away with something once doesn’t mean you should do it a second time. It doesn’t even mean it was okay that you did it the first time. It simply means that your partner is willing to give you a second chance — and you don’t want to blow that chance. You don’t want to make them regret trusting you.
Instead of running around, doing whatever you want, because you feel like your partner is always going to forgive you, you should put energy into bettering yourself. You should grow into the person your partner knows you can become.
It’s going to take some work, but it’s better than hurting the person who loves you more than anything in the world. It’s better than settling for a subpar version of yourself. It’s better than giving up on yourself when you know you have so much more to give.
The fact that your partner is always there for you, even when you mess up, is a beautiful thing — but you shouldn’t expect them to stick around forever. If you keep taking advantage of their kindness, one day they’re going to snap. They’re going to realize the relationship isn’t working. They’re going to walk away from you and decide you don’t get to hurt them anymore.
You don’t want your relationship to reach that point. You don’t want to put your person through that level of stress. You don’t want to be the reason why they’re upset.
You shouldn’t hate yourself for making mistakes — but you should hold yourself accountable for your mistakes. Take responsibility. Understand that you shouldn’t have done what you’ve done and decide to make better, smarter decisions moving forward. Don’t act like you’re incapable of changing. Don’t act like whoever is with you needs to take the good with the bad. You should always be doing your best — for your sake and for your partner.
We’re all a work in progress. We aren’t going to get it right every single time. We’re bound to make mistakes. But you can’t expect your partner to stick around if you’re repeating the same bad behaviors over and over again with no end in sight. Even if they do stick around, you know you should do better. You know they deserve so much more. And you know you’re capable of so much more.
