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Yes, open relationships do work! They can be a mess at times, but going about them with the right amount of mutually set rules is the ultimate key. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in a closed relationship for, or how well you know your partner, things are bound to change, hopefully for the good, once the two of you decide upon giving it a shot at the whole “open relationship” thing. Today, we bring you a guide to the ground rules that need to be set and mutually discussed upon for doing justice to an open relationship-
You cannot be secretive and hide things from your partner in an open relationship. To ease the experience, make sure your actual partner is okay with your other partners and doesn’t share any personal problem with them. Similarly, you too have to be okay with who your partner is seeing. Talk to them and let them know if you have a problem with their partner. Assure them that they too can freely open up to you if they seem to face a similar issue.
You cannot act the same way around your other partners as you do with your actual partner. Risking emotional attachments between you and them is not the best way to go about in an open relationship. You’ve got to set certain emotional boundaries before going about with an open relationship. Talk to your partner and discuss these boundaries mutually to avoid any cases of jealousy or other negativity between you and your partner.
Accurate and efficient time management is the key to doing an open relationship right. You have to learn to manage your time properly. Give your partner their portion of attention/time first and then go about with your other partner (s). Create a timetable to avoid confusions and a mix-up which could lead to unwanted chaos in your relationship.
At any time should you feel any insecurities arising, confront your partner and be honest with them. You can also note down your insecurities and root them down to deal with by yourself. Always put in efforts to overcome these insecurities for they can pile up over time into an utter mess!
ALWAYS be honest with your partner and share everything with them. Apart from those things that could make things awkward between you two, open up about your feelings and speak your heart out. Trust and honesty is the basic factor to drive any relationship forward.
Physical boundaries between you and your hookup partner as important is as emotional boundaries. Do talk and discuss with your partner in advance on these boundaries too!
Your hookup life and your partner’s hookup life is not gonna end up the same. You’re gonna be having your own differently varying experiences and hence, comparing with one another is just pointless. Avoid the comparison and instead, be happy with your side-lives.
You have to check-in on one another constantly to ensure the two of you are still on the same page. In case of any problems, do try and solve them as quickly as possible instead of avoiding them and extending them further.
Following the rules and regulations set by the two of you together is the way to go. Don’t try to break those rules and do NOT cheat on your partner, in any case. Play fair and respect your relationship!
No matter the number of side-chicks, no matter the attention from other guys, your partner should ALWAYS be your first priority. Show them what they mean to you and how much you appreciate their presence in your life. Be true to your priorities and manage them rightly to ease the whole “open relationship” thing!
