Have you ever noticed that the strongest emotional bond in a relationship occurs when there has been friendship before love? If we take a look around at couples around us, lovers who began their relationship by being friends at first tend to create healthier relationships. Regardless of the popular beliefs about love at first sight and children’s fairy tales, building a friendship before dating has proven to be the best strategy to achieve a sustainable and prosperous relationship.
The reason behind this is that you get to know each other on a different level. Friendship has no expectations, unlike romantic relationships. Two friends choose to spend time together because they enjoy it and want to get to know each other. You have no barriers and feel safe to be your true self. Then, when the right moment comes and both of you realise that being friends is not enough, becoming lovers will come naturally, and you can start enjoying your genuine and meaningful connection.
Friendship dating is a healthy approach
A lot of research is pointing out that friendship should come before any romantic alliance. Couples that start off as friends build sustainable relationships and become inseparable soulmates. Only getting to know your potential lover from different perspectives would allow you to create a full picture of who they are as a person and save a lot of your time.
As human beings, we tend to build projections about the people we fall in love with, which leads to disappointments and resentments. Therefore, a relationship that started from friendship will always have greater chances of being successful as you know the real picture and can be yourself. Below, we have gathered a few benefits that experts believe can facilitate a better connection in couples who started being friends before dating.
Friendship allows you to skip the awkward phase
When you meet someone new, it is always awkward, especially when there is chemistry added to the equation. People tend to restrain from exposing their true feelings and act as their true selves as they often are careful about not pushing the other person away by being themselves. The first month of knowing each other is quite nerve-wracking for both. You do not know how to behave and how your new lover would react.
The picture is entirely different when your relationship begins after you have known each other for a while and had a friendship before. You tend to have learnt the other person quite well; have been through a few situations to understand how they react and manage in life. There is no awkwardness as both of you have revealed your true self and feel comfortable around each other.
Friends trust each other
Being friends allows you to create a trustworthy relationship. You do not need to prove anything to your partner because they already know they trust you from your friendship stage of a relationship. It might be very different, starting a loving companionship as soon as you get acquainted and the chemistry kicks in. Lovers tend to feel some sort of jealousy, and it takes time to build confidence in a relationship.
However, in friendship, you do not normally feel jealous, which allows us to look over a lot of life situations fairly. That is why lovers who started their companionship from being friends have a stronger bond and rarely have trust issues. Many couples who have a successful long-term relationship admit that they have this special friendship connection, which helps them get through life together.
Love might fade away over time, but friendship never dies. Therefore, if you are looking for a meaningful, long-term relationship start with being friends at first and keep that friendship vibe throughout the whole companionship.
Friends get to know each other from different perspectives
By being friends before dating, you expand the range of perspectives that you hold about your special person. Meeting someone on a dating app with a purpose of building a relationship is common, but it definitely narrows down the image of the person that you hold in your mind. If you two are involved romantically, you only see one side. Whereas, if you become friends, you get to see the life of your potential suitor, their circle of friends and family as they are.
There is no need to make a good impression, and it really breaks down all illusions that can exist in romantic relationships, when people are trying to impress each other with an idealistic image of their life. By becoming friends at first, you can see an unbiased picture of what your potential partner’s life is like and then make a well-informed decision about whether or not you’d like to go ahead with this relationship.
You can see other people to make the right choice
If you find that significant person who you have chemistry with but decide to keep it slow and start off as friends, it allows you to assess if the choice you are making is right. You are not dating, therefore, both of you can see other people. This way you can understand whether the person you are thinking of building a relationship together is actually compatible with you, or perhaps you could meet someone more suitable. You can answer this question only by practically talking to other people. In the end of the day, if your chemistry remains and you see no one that can overtake them, maybe he or she is actually your soulmate!
It is easier to introduce friends to your children
Another amazing advantage of starting off as friends, which is highly relevant for individuals with kids from past marriages, is that it is a lot easier to introduce your lovers to your kids. If you become friends first, your kids will be more likely to accept your relationship. They will get used to seeing that person around them and will easier take on the news.
Whereas, in contrast, if you introduce your new partner to your kids straight away, they will perceive him or her as a complete stranger and their reaction will be unpredictable. Therefore, if you start hanging out with someone as friends, introduce them to your children whilst they remain friends to you. You can proceed to the next stage of your relationship once you see your kids being positive about that special person that you found for yourself.
Where to look for friendship dating services
Nowadays, finding a lover is as easy as it has never been before. You simply need to get an account with one of the online dating services and start communicating with thousands of potential candidates who are looking for love. But what can you do if you want to have a friendship at first and all of the people online are looking purely for love? We have good news for you! There are friendship dating sites, which are specifically designed for individuals who wish to take it slow when it comes to building a romantic relationship.
They operate in the same manner as regular dating services, but with a slight difference — you do not feel forced to go on dates and choose lovers. Instead, you can enjoy talking to as many potential candidates as you wish. Get to know them well enough, become friends with a few and then choose that one special person that you wish to link your life with romantically.
Last words on friendship dating services
Friendship dating sites offer a fun way of getting to know people outside of your regular network of acquaintances, find new friends from all over the world and get a chance of finding your soulmate. These services have more fascinating features to offer, for example — friendship speed dating. It involves meeting a large number of new people under a limited amount of time and then choosing the most compatible suitor for you. In real life, it would have been impossible to meet so many interesting suitors, therefore, regardless of the outcome, you would definitely enjoy the process!
Other than that, a lot of these services for friendship dating are free of charge, meaning that you could give it a shot without losing anything. All you need to find friends and lovers is a good internet connection and a mobile device or a computer. Search for the best solutions for friendship & dating, identify the service that suits you better. Then upload a good-looking profile picture and start chatting with singletons. Do not focus too much on the outcome: keep in mind that we are here to enjoy every moment. So, seek joy and fun from communicating with potential suitors online.
