Friendship into Relationship....

A relationship can often grow from a friendship due to mixed feelings and the fact that buddy and a partner are kind of close in their  link to you anyway. However it’s not always a good move and could ruin a great friendship or at least make things awkward for a long time.

Friendship and intimate relationships are both equally important in life and sometimes you may want to hold onto that friendship and leave the intimacy out of it, especially if you are very close to each other. If you know anything and everything, all the gory details of each others lives and previous relationships, health issues, troubles and whats not then be careful. Anyway lets look at some tips before taking that leap.

Be sure you are not confusing feelings – Love comes in many forms and friendship is one of those. In hard times a friend may be there for you in every way possible and feelings can feel like they are really developing but you need to make sure this isn’t the troubles growing these thoughts. A friend is with you thick and thin and you should try and hold off until thin to really assess these feelings and make sure they are what you think they are.

Has this happened before? – It may not have been the first time you have hooked up or been close to hooking up. Did it cause problems and awkwardness before? What were the after feelings like and did you discuss the possibilities?

Have you both talked about it? – If you are very close then no feelings and thoughts should be off limits. Talk about it before jumping in. If the passion has already won out then talk it over and see if it was a mistake, just some fun or something that is possible to grow into a full on relationship.

What do your other friends say? – Have you discussed it with your other friends? Feelings and ideas feel different once shared so maybe cooping them up isn’t helping you make a good decision and your friends may help you clear things up. Maybe they were in a relationship before with another friend and act differently in such circumstances. They may be an awful partner but great friend.

Take things slow – You have likely been friends for a long time so what is the rush. Date slowly, ease into it and don’t go too far before finding out it will not work. The goal here is to preserve the friendship at all costs and put the intimate relationship second.

Try and date someone else! – I know this is odd advice but try and date someone else for a while and maybe tell them to do the same to see if you are still thinking of your friend all the time. It may not be fair on your date but you may meet your future partner and parent of your children or you may realise you are supposed to be with your friend!

+Friendship into Relationship, Your Advice?

At the end of the day your partner is often your best friend too, I know mine is and I am very lucky. I would like to think that if our relationship did ever end (which I hope it does not) that we could continue to be friends because she means a lot to me on all levels.

Have you ever dated a friend or come close? Are you in a long term relationship with someone who started as a friend and do you have any thoughts, tips or ideas to share?

Thanks for reading as always.