Five Of The Most Common Reasons Couples Fight

Some of our strongest memories are also painful ones. Often they involve fights with a spouse or a girlfriend over any of a number of issues. If fighting brings on so much pain, why do we continue to engage in them?

Photo by bfurnace.

Chronic fighting doesn’t just happen to clueless couples who know nothing about resolving conflict. Sometimes there are wrong things about the relationship that invite constant bickering. Five of these are are discussed below:

1.) Incompatibility

No two people are alike so conflict is inevitable.

But the less compatible you are with your partner, the more differences you will have and these will always be a potential source of conflict. When two people are completely incompatible, the best that they can hope for is a relationship that is based 100 percent on compromise.

Some consider compromise to be a noble thing, but if your entire relationship and your life is nothing but a collection of compromises, it’s not much of a relationship or a life.

This is why getting to know that person you’ve started dating really well before getting into a serious relationship is so important. It’s rare that two people will have perfect compatibility, but at least they should have a lot of common ground.

2.) Relationship Isn’t The First Priority

There is a tendency in many of us to coast along. Once we have something, it’s a given, and we concern ourselves with other things.

The problem with treating a relationship this way is that it isn’t something that’s going to sit still for very long. If you aren’t giving your partner enough attention, boredom, resentment, and even loneliness will set in.

No one takes themselves for granted. Likewise, no one should take their relationship for granted because it is an extension of yourself. Without your partner, you are incomplete.

3.) Past Baggage And Hot Buttons

The older we get, the more life experience we acquire. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Of course the good thing about life experience are the lessons that we’ve learned.

The bad, is all of the personal hurt that we carry around that we’ve never resolved. This causes us to jump to the wrong conclusions about our new partner’s behavior or about an innocent remark.

Too many of these hot buttons turns the relationship into an emotional landmine where one false misstep blows up to a fight.

4.) Too much stress

When we are stressed out, our body secretes stress hormones. These make us more likely to react first and think later. We become less patient, less giving, less thoughtful, and more likely to react negatively to any irritant. Under these circumstances it’s all too easy to take out our pain and frustration on our partner.

5.) Money

Money may not be the root of all evil but it’s a common reason for discord among couples. It’s not the amount of money one has that fuels conflict. Rather, it’s differing ideas on how it’s to be spent or saved. Coming to an understanding on this, developing a plan and sticking to it is vital.

Minimizing fights and arguments starts just before your relationship becomes serious when you should be looking for points of compatibility. Once your relationship becomes serious, take good care of it like you would yourself.

Be aware of your own emotional baggage and don’t allow it to color your view of the world. Too much baggage severely restricts your enjoyment of life. Get help if you need it.

Finally, stress and money management are important skills to master. Money in particular should be dealt with in an up front manner.

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Related posts:

1. Five Common Reasons Couples Break Up
2. Warning! 6 Common Mistakes to Avoid If You Want Your Ex Back