Are you happier when you are in a relationship?

It’s been twenty one years since I wasn’t in a relationship. The single life has it’s good points, but overall I think yeah, relationships make my tummy tickle inside.

I’d rather be married to my husband than single, BUT I’d rather be single than in a bad relationship.

No. I like solitude. “Get off my lawn!” Dang kids today… Anyway, that’s just my way.

I have pretty much always been in relationships – from elementary school to the present.. I have been fortunate that they were all quite positive no nasty fights, no big arguments. . They were not with the same person, of course. I like it.and want others to have it too.
That is why some people call me Yenta.

I love being in a relationship, I’ve been married 20 years, but hate being in a bad relationship. When I was younger and dating I never felt like I had to be in a relationship. When I was dating I was usually actually in a steady relationship. If we broke up I was single. I never felt compelled to find another relationship.

I’m happy in my relationship because when we are together it is being with my best friend, and we do the fun things I like to do. Anything from watching TV, doing a tourist thing, travel, new restaurants, all sorts of stuff. I also can do things independent of him. I find him still interesting after all these years, I trust him (I don’t only mean things like fidelity, but trust that he loves me and wants the best for me even if he tells me something I have a hard time hearing) and I think he is beautiful.

Probably a ton of people tell you this, but don’t look so hard to be in a relationship. I have more than one friend who really wanted to get married, it was a goal, and they are all divorced. The goal should be to find the right SO. Make a list of what you want, I will give you the first three, trustworthy, honest, responsible, you can add another 3–5. Don’t pair up unless you meet someone who meets your requirements. When you are dating the right person the relationship will develop like it is the most natural thing in the world. It won’t feel forced or like the power is unequal.

I wouldn’t say I’m happier. Just… Less bored. Both are nice, because after a while I miss the feeling of affection. But I also like not having to remember to make time for them.
I love spending time with my boyfriend, but sometimes it’s really hard to find time.

I got along just fine for 21 years without being in a relationship. However, I am generally happier and feel more fulfilled since meeting my significant other. I don’t know if that means that I would have been unhappy had I stayed single, but I am thankful that I no longer have to ponder about what life on my own would be like now.

No. I was married for years and now divorced for over 10, and I have loved being single and doing my own thing. It would take a REALLY amazing guy to draw me back into a couples scene. It could happen, but he has to be funny, smart, witty, not anal/OCD, a cat lover, nature nut, eclectic and eccentric type. In other words…a lot like me! lol
Opposites may attract but it is usually a match made in hell. haha

I’m happiest in a relationship with myself.

though I can be quite demanding sometimes

Scientific studies show that healthy relationships improve people’s well-being and life satisfaction.

@mattbrowne
Couldn’t that partly be due to those people having wanted a relationship before?

I have been in a relationship for 3 years now. I have spent more time in a relationship than single.

But I am fine either way. I don’t think I am better off either way. I love my partner but I’d be just fine single too.

Heck, I still go out to eat by myself sometimes!

I don’t even think of eating out alone as a thing to report. Not being critical, just interesting you wrote it.

@nuclear a while back a study showed that the happiest people are married men, then after that single women, then single men, then at the bottom of the barrel was married women. Just something to consider. The stats might have changed now that men seem to be helping out at home more, but I of all my female friends who got divorced, they were always the ones who couldn’t take it anymore and initiated the end of the marriage. Being able to be happy alone is a good quality. I believe it makes you a better partner in a relationship in the end.

I am definitely happier in a relationship. I am between relationships right now, however I have started to see someone, but I don’t know if she is right for me. The last relationship I was in, after my divorce from my wife of seven years, I fell madly in love with her, she got breast cancer, I stayed with her throughout all her chemo treatments, and took care of her, and then two days after her surgery, she called me on the phone and broke up with me over the phone. :( I am still very heartbroken from this. I do not do the single thing well at all. I am hoping to be in a good relationship very soon.

@echotech10 It’s really important for your psychological growth that you learn to embrace being single and alone with yourself, happily. Constant searching for relationship is not healthy.

Yes, I would rather be in a unhappy relationship than be on my own.

I will say one thing that I dreaded when I was single was that I’d have some horrible accident in my apartment and nobody would find me until I’d been dead for a week. This thought would haunt me now and then and I’d wake up at 2 AM worried about it. I would never worry about this in a relationship—even a bad one.

Relationships involve matters of the heart, so it’s quite expected to assume that any relationship should be happier as it’s expressed. However, it depends on a number of factors, one in particular comes down to chemistry, if there is no attraction between partners from the distinct level of mind, body and soul, the relationship will be sorely lacking the apitutude to succeed and to escalate itself to solidification. Agree or not, we need these challenges whether or not in these relationship to A)Modify or strenghten our character B) To discover our main purposes in life.

@longgone – I don’t think so.

@mattbrowne Could you share the link to those studies? I’m not doubting you, just interested…

@longgone – I recommend using this as a starting point

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Seligman#PERMA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Seligman#External_links

The R in PERMA stands for relationships and the contribution to well-being and life satisfaction is higher than those for P, E, M and A.

^ Thanks!