RT
Is it all right if your partner goes on a vacation with a friend from the opposite sex? What are the normal boundaries when it comes to opposite sex friendships?
Friends are important part of our lives. But normally as two couples engaged in a serious relationship, especially married couples they tend to be exclusive for each other and create a gap from their previous support systems called friends.
While it is good (and expected) for couples to spend their time and devotion for each other, being completely emotionally exclusively may not be healthy.
Maintaining friendship is vital as it’s also important to understand that your partner can’t be your only source of community and company.
However, when it comes to maintaining individual friendship with someone from the opposite sex, it should come with vital conditions and boundaries.
A married person can have friend from the opposite sex. But nurturing it can prove to be a slippery slope. Whether we like it or not, a simple friendship can easily lead into flirtations. At first, it can even just be a joke, no biggy and harmless. The next thing you know feelings grow and the relationship has developed into something more intimate.
So, how about vacationing with a friend from the opposite sex?
While there are couples who will feel comfortable about the idea of their partner going on a vacation with a platonic friend from the opposite sex, overall this can be risky. Think about the romantic sunsets, cozy dorms or vacation rooms, and isn’t it that vacations are more fun with booze and drinks? Anything can happen when a person is under the spirit of alcohol. And, how convenient will it be for a man to say ‘I’m sorry, things just happened. I was drunk’.
The Rules of Maintaining Opposite Gender Friendship
Maintaining friendships outside of marriage is no doubt crucial for our individual social needs.
But having friends with the opposite sex should come with boundaries. Here are some rules everyone in a committed relationship should consider when it comes to friendship with the opposite sex:
Set Boundaries.
Friendship with the opposite sex should not be one that’s called a close friendship which entails lots of personal contact or quality time and sharing of intimate details about your life.
Always consider your spouse.
As you make interactions with a friend from the opposite gender, think about how your spouse may feel.
In the same way, ask yourself how you will feel if your partner does the same things you do.
Get your partner involved with the friendship.
Keeping an opposite gender friendship out in the open is important. Transparency makes things more comfortable and helps build trust.
Set a dinner date with your partner, include your partner in the friendship if you must. More importantly, the friendship should have an approval from your partner.
If it can cause any problem between you and your partner’s relationship then perhaps you might as well just throw off the idea of developing in-depth friendship with that person.
