As much as we’d like life to be plain sailing, unfortunately it has a habit of not always going to plan. At these times it’s good to know that you have someone there by your side to provide support and encouragement. While you can probably guarantee that your family and close friends will take on this role, what about your boyfriend, will he always be supportive? Let’s take a look at some common problems that you might come up against and the signs that you have a supportive boyfriend.
Supporting you after difficult news
While it doesn’t bear thinking about, there might be a time when you get bad news about your health or that of a family member’s. At this time you’ll have a lot on your mind and are unlikely to be yourself; you probably won’t feel like doing what you normally would. Rather than complain that you’ve become boring, you’d like to think that he would understand how difficult things are for you and act accordingly. A sign of support is him listening to how you feel, really listening, giving you his full attention and acknowledging what you are saying. He might try to cheer you up with a little gift, hire your favourite film or treat you a hair cut or massage to lift your spirits – if he understands you well, he will know what to do to help pick you up.
Supporting your decisions
There are lots of difficult decisions that we have to make, which will often not just affect ourselves, but others too, including your boyfriend. It’s impossible to please everyone and that includes yourself, so sometimes you have to plump for the option that seems right. At some point a decision you make might surprise your boyfriend, who may not agree with what you’ve run with – for example, choosing to go to university hundreds of miles away, but for the course you have always dreamed of doing; or more trivially attending a family party when you had already talked about going out that night. Hopefully if you talk things through, recognising his disappointment, he will understand why you are doing what you are, that sometimes we are all torn, and support your choice. He will probably realise that he will be in the same position as you in the not so distant future.
Supporting you with your weight loss
Take your weight. It’s something that women are often very conscious about and you’d hope that your boyfriend would take your feelings into account regarding this. So rather than tease you if you’ve put on a few pounds, you would expect him to be understanding. Perhaps telling you that he loves you no matter how much you weigh isn’t what you really need to hear, as it doesn’t exactly spur you on to make changes to your eating habits and activity and help you find a cheaper health insurance comparison through a healthier lifestyle, but at least it shows he cares. Ideally you would like him to help you out when you’re trying to follow a healthy eating plan, so rather than eat chocolate bars and drink coke in front of you, it would be nice if he could cook you a tasty, but low calorie meal or buy you a nice punnet of fruit to snack on. They say that actions speak louder than words, so showing his support through helping you with your diet means just as much if not more than his words of encouragement.
Supporting you when others doubt you
Sometimes those people that we would have expected to always be there for us, unfortunately aren’t. So not only do you have to deal with whatever it is that is presently difficult, you are faced with the additional upset that your usual source of support isn’t there and worse than that, that they don’t agree with you. This is the time when you really need your boyfriend’s support and if he’s worth his weight in gold, he’ll be fully aware of this and step into their shoes. When others might have given up on you, if he stands by you, then that speaks volumes for how supportive he really is.
About the Author
Ruth writes on behalf of an ethical healthcare business. Whilst your love life might not usually kill you, many studies have shown that a strong supportive relationship can be good for your health. So will your boyfriend be there for you?
