It’s a pretty commonly held belief that love is enough to sustain a happy and healthy relationship. And in many cases, that may very well be true. But what happens when love isn’t enough?
When two people care deeply for each other but constantly find themselves at odds? It can be a tough situation to navigate, and there’s no easy answer.
But, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this, today, in this article. So if you’re interested, read on!
Why is love not enough, sometimes?
Saying that love isn’t enough in a relationship is very vague and could mean anything. Plus, the broader we let this statement be the fewer chances we have to find a one-size-fits-all solution.
In fact, we will be addressing here different reasons why love could turn out not to be enough, and accordingly, with the context, we will explore whether anything can be done to save the relationship.
So let’s start with the most common reasons for love not being enough and what needs to be done in every situation.
1- You’re not compatible:
Some people may say that love is all you need in a relationship, but the truth is that sometimes love just isn’t enough. If you’re not compatible with your partner, no amount of effort or love will be enough to make the relationship work.
Trying to force a relationship to work, by finding a temporary middle ground every time, is only a band-aid solution. Eventually, the cracks will start to show. If you’re not compatible with your partner, it’s likely that the relationship is doomed from the start. While it’s important to try to make things work, sometimes it’s just not meant to be.
2- External factors:
In others, outside factors like job stress or financial troubles may put a strain on the relationship, making it tough to maintain love even when it is present in a relationship.
In this case, it goes without saying that finding a solution for the external factors that keep coming back in your every argument will go a long way in bringing peace to your couple. If you keep fighting about finances or are unhappy about your living situation or the city you live in, etc; then it can be hard to ignore the issue.
Whatever the case may be, it’s important to communicate openly with your partner and try to find a way to work through the difficulties together. You just have to actively work on finding a permanent solution to eliminate the external factor. If not, then the couple has to agree that nothing can be done about it and try to co-exist without arguing about it.
3- Third parties that are against the relationship:
Third parties that are against the relationship can make life a living nightmare. One person in the relationship may be blind to what is happening and continue to allow the third party to meddle in the couple’s affairs, but at what cost? If love is not enough to make you and your partner stand in the face of any third person, eventually someone will get hurt.
Many times, it is the person that stays in the relationship despite having their partner not stand up to their interfering relative that gets hurt the most. They continue to give their all to the relationship even when it is one-sided, hoping that their love will be enough.
If you find yourself in a situation where you are questioning whether love is enough, it may be time to walk away. Love should never hurt. It should lift you up and make you feel whole. If it doesn’t, or if your partner is allowing anyone to disrespect you or invade your privacy as a couple then maybe it wasn’t meant to be.
4- Wrong timing or wrong circumstances:
Sometimes the timing where you met that special someone is just wrong. One person might be ready for a committed relationship but the other isn’t, or they’re in a complicated situation and cannot commit at the moment.
In this case, you’re free not to choose to put your life on hold and wait forever for them. In fact, this is a good situation where love is sadly not enough and you’ll have to move on without wasting any of your time on the situation.
There are also situations where you have feelings for someone but it’s not enough to be together. The physical attraction is there or the person is still in a relationship, they claim not to be able to get out of, for whatever reason.
No matter what it is, sometimes love just isn’t enough to make a relationship work. And this specific case, we recommend you move on as fast as lightning as we never advocate for being the other woman or getting taken advantage of by someone who’s taken and who’s stringing you along.
5- Your partner has an unforgivable flaw:
As much as it breaks your heart to realize that love is not enough in a relationship, you have to be able to face the truth. If your partner has an unforgivable flaw, or if they put you constantly through horrible experiences because they cannot overcome a bad aspect of their personality or habits then it might be time to move on.
As much as you love this person, you’re not obligated to gift them your entire life and let them use and abuse you. If a partner crosses specific limits then you cannot accept it and stay as things will only get worse from there, so it’s probably time to walk away.
Don’t settle for less than you deserve, no matter how much you love the person and no matter how much you want them to be yours, you have to understand that they’re not ready to be a good partner to you. After all, as the saying goes, “you can’t put a price on happiness.” Love is important, but it’s not the only thing that matters in a relationship. If you’re not happy or respected, then it’s time to move on.
What to do if love is not enough?
If you’ve been in a relationship for a while and find yourself constantly asking if love is enough for you to stay and try to make things work, it may be time to be neutral and just admit that you have to move on.
It’s easy to be blinded by love and convince yourself that things will eventually get better, but sometimes it’s just not worth it. If you’re constantly unhappy and feel like you’re not being respected, it may be time to snap out of your tunnel vision and realize that the world is full of other eligible people that would be a good fit for you.
There is plenty of fish in the sea, and you deserve to be happy. Don’t stay in a bad relationship just because you’re afraid of being single. Life is too short to settle for anything less than happiness.