Do I Feel Compassionate In My Current Relationship?

Is there a long-term commitment to each other?

Is there deep trust in the other person?

Is there deep Intimacy (i.e., are you able to share every aspect of yourselves with each other)?

Is there affection?

Do you truly know your partner?

Based on your answers, it does not seem like you feel very compassionate in your relationship. Compassionate love is all about affection, commitment, trust, and intimacy. Sometimes it’s difficult to remain compassionate with our partners. You will both always have some complaints about one another. However, if you manage to stop and think before criticizing, it can help you to redirect your focus toward compassion for your partner. Remember the good things about your relationship and wait for both to be cool and calm before discussing problems. Then, you can work together to solve the problems and design loving recovery strategies.

Based on your answers, you don’t seem to be very compassionate in your relationship, but you do display a few signs related to it. We all enter into romantic relationships to enjoy ourselves and one another and yet, when discussions occur, we usually lash out at our partners or shut down. The key to overcoming this is emotional intelligence, and an essential component of emotional intelligence is compassion. In a relationship compassion means that we recognized when our partner is suffering, and to be kind to them as they go through their process. Compassion is about trust, intimacy, commitment, and affection. If you feel you lost some (com)passion, make sure to spend time together doing new things.

Based on your answers, you are displaying various signs typically seen among individuals who feel compassionate in their current relationship. That’s great news! Compassionate love does not necessarily include wild passion or obsessive thoughts as seen in passionate love. However, compassionate love is all about a strong bond, friendship and feelings of tenderness. There is some research that found that romantic love marked by engagement, intensity and sexual interest (excluding the obsessive component) is related to marital satisfaction, increased well-being and higher self-esteem. The most long-lasting relationships have found a balance between compassionate and passionate love.