This is a sponsored feature. All opinions are 100% from Her Campus.
In the day and age of social media, we share everything. It seems like everyone knows everything about everyone all the time and nothing is sacred. As someone who hasn’t been in many serious relationships, I am coming to find that everyone has an opinion on my relationship. With so many people putting in their two cents, I felt like my voice got lost fairly often. It took a lot of introspection and alone time (meaning no Facebook check-ins or snapchats) with my significant other to make me feel like the relationship was ours and only ours.
Opinions of family may range from positive to negative. Your family loves you and want what’s best for you, but sometimes they overstep their boundaries. Big decisions can invite more opinions than you’re comfortable with. For example, I have been with my current boyfriend for 5 months and will be moving in with him in 5 more when we move to California. Many people fear that I’m moving too fast, I’m not thinking, I don’t have the money. But I am comfortable with myself, with him, and my choice. Just like anyone out there should be. Trust your gut, because in the end, it’s all you have. When big decisions occur, the two most important opinions are yours and your significant other’s. Don’t question that!
True friends aren’t afraid to let you know what’s up. Maybe they say you’re spending too much time with your significant other and not with them, or you’re ignoring your responsibilities. My advice is to take everything they say with a grain of salt. Yes, they are your friends, they care about you and we can all relate with feeling neglected when someone close to us enters a relationship. I can almost guarantee that they mean well, but the only person who knows your situation is you, no one else.
The overall advice that I want to give is best said by Steve Jobs: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
HCXO