I have never being in an open relationship before. At least not consciously. In the sense that I have not found myself in a situation where the current love of my life and I sat down and agreed to date other people.
How do conversations like that even get started? In my mind, there is no way it’s not going to be awkward. I mean, you are basically telling your partner you want to cheat on them with their knowledge of course.
I know there are different shades of awkward, but these should be at the extreme end of what uncomfortable is all about.
The first time I heard or became aware of the phrase open relationship was on Facebook. So many profiles had that. It took me a while to understand what it meant. I wondered why I just didn’t Google it to save myself the trouble.
From my end of the moral stick, I can give you a hundred reasons why being in an open relationship is plain bad for all concerned. It’s stressful enough being involved with one partner.
However, there are people who do the open relationship thing. And apparently, if you believe what you read in Facebook profiles, millions are doing it successfully too.
So I started thinking about the benefits of being in an open relationship. Finding an acquaintance into this sort of arrangement was a bit difficult. I did find a couple eventually.
Talking to them separately about their experiences showed that if you know how to get your act together, you’d really have fun in open relationship.
Here are the benefits of being in an open relationship I could get from talking with them
Being in an Open relationship is about options
That should seem obvious enough I guess. Being in an open relationship means you have the option to explore other possibilities as far as dating is concerned.
The thing about ‘options’ is that what you do outside your main relationship is going to be strictly casual or you might find yourself trapped in a serious love triangle that would be hard to extricate yourself from.
So keeping it casual is the name of the game. That way, your options are no limited.
Let’s face it, what is the point of being in an open relationship if you have to restrict your playing field to just one partner? You might as well just ditch the idea.
Reduced or limited responsibilities
The experts in these sort of relationship would tell you with a straight face that if you have a phobia for responsibilities, an open relationship is the way to go.
I could understand their point of view. Closed, committed relationships come with a lot of responsibilities and expectations. Some of these responsibilities are things you know instinctively you need to do.
And the rules of responsibilities in relationships are very dynamic in the sense they keep on changing as the relationship matures.
In open relationship though, you are free of those commitments. And you can opt out anytime you feel constricted by the other party.
Heartbreaks are rare in open relationships
One of the cardinal rules of being in an open relationship is that you never allow yourself to fall in love.
And because you don’t love your partner, your heart can never be broken. The logic is sound in theory, but in practice you have to work hard to make it happen that way.
The possibility of actually falling in love is always there. But if you are a veteran in the field of open relationship, you won’t see that as a problem. Your problem in this case is making sure the other party never falls in love with you.
More time for yourself
If you are the sort of person who craves and jealously guards their privacy, open relationship could just be the thing for you if and when you decide to have an affair.
In open relationships, you have more time to focus on yourself because the level of responsibilities towards a partner is seriously reduced.
So if you want to focus on your career or achieve some set goals in life, being in an open relationship is the thing for you.
Sometimes, the emotional entanglements involved in closed relationships can easily detract you from your objectives.
I guess some people would want to try open relationships after this piece thinking it is that easy. The first requirement is you must have a heart of steel. And secondly, for the guys, you must know how to easily walk up to a random girl and get fresh with her.
If you have some thoughts about being in an open relationships, do tell us about them in the comment section below. You don’t have to agree with what I wrote.
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