You’re in a relationship and want to share it with the world.
You want to tell your friends and family how happy you are, but you also want to protect your privacy.
The thing is, most people don’t understand why you would want to keep your relationship private.
They might say things like, “Oh, it’s just a relationship — what’s there to hide?”
Keeping your relationship private doesn’t mean never discussing it with anyone else; it simply means not sharing it with everyone around you at work or school without first talking to your partner about how they feel about the subject.
Or just sharing it with people who deserve to know.
If you’re in a serious relationship, it doesn’t have to be a secret.
But if you’re not ready to announce it to the world yet, here are some reasons why you might want to keep your relationship private:
Why You Should Keep Your Relationship Private
1. Less pressure to conform
If you prefer keeping your personal life private, you may feel less pressure to conform to societal expectations.
There are so many expectations about what makes a good relationship, so if people know you’re in a relationship, they may expect you to conform to certain standards of behavior.
For example, people may think that you should be involved with someone who shares most of your interests and hobbies — but if this isn’t true for you and your partner, then it may be easier for both of you if no one knows about it.
Also, you might feel pressured to be more affectionate with one another in public or less affectionate if that’s not your style.
And if one of you is trying to avoid commitment, keeping things on the down low might mean less pressure on both of you to “make it work.”
This is true because many people feel pressured to get married because they fear being judged by their friends and family members if they don’t tie the knot.
However, if you feel like no one will know about your relationship unless you decide to tell them yourself, you can feel free to make your own decisions without worrying about what other people think about them.
2. You’re still getting to know each other
Maybe you’ve only been dating for a few weeks or months — or maybe you’ve been together for years but haven’t made any official announcements about your relationship status.
Either way, it’s not the time to be bombarded with questions about how long you’ve been together or when you’re going to get married (or if).
You don’t owe anyone any details about your love life except the people closest to you.
You’re not ready for everyone’s opinion on whether or not it’ll work out.
So keeping your relationship private will help you to know each other without being bombarded with questions from people.
3. You can really focus on each other
Many people make the mistake of thinking that a public relationship strengthens their love, but this isn’t always true.
In fact, keeping things private will allow you to have a more intimate connection with each other.
You’ll be able to focus on what’s going on in your relationship and not worry about what people think or say about it.
Because it’s easy for people in relationships to take each other for granted when they’re not getting enough attention from their significant other.
Keeping things private will help prevent this from happening because it will force you to focus more on each other than on what everyone else thinks about you as a couple.
4. You’ll have more privacy
If people know about your relationship, they might want to ask you questions all the time or give advice, whether they mean to or not.
It’s nice to have some things that are just between the two of you, so if people don’t know about it, they won’t bug you as much and won’t try to get involved in your business (unless they’re nosy jerks).
Because if everyone knows about something personal in your life, there’s always the chance that it could get out into the public domain or get twisted around by people who don’t know what actually happened or are deliberately trying to ruin things for you.
5. You’ll be happier
When you’re in a relationship and everyone knows it, you get a lot of attention from friends, family, and social media.
But when people don’t know about it, you can spend more time just being together.
You can be more relaxed and less self-conscious about how much time you spend with each other, where you go, and what you do, thus making you and your partner happier.
6. More opportunities for spontaneity
You’ll have more opportunities to be spontaneous when your relationship is private.
You can decide to go out for dinner together or catch a movie at an off-peak time without all the awkwardness that comes with being seen as a couple.
And if someone sees you and asks how long you’ve been dating, you can just say “a while” or “not long” instead of giving a specific number of days, months, or years.
7. It will make your partner feel special
People tend to want to know about all the details when you’re in a relationship, including whether you’ve been together for a long time or just casually dating someone.
They’ll ask questions about how long you’ve been dating, what your partner looks like, who introduced whom, and other details that are none of their business.
Putting the details of your relationship out in the public might make your partner uncomfortable if they’re not used to being put on display like that.
But by keeping your relationship private, your partner can feel like your hidden treasure known by just a few special people.
8. More freedom in choosing your partner
When people think about dating someone who’s already in a committed relationship with someone else, many assume that it would be impossible for these partners ever to leave their current partner for a new lover.
However, when it comes down to it, people can decide to leave their relationship if they meet someone better suited to their needs.
Keeping your relationship private will give you the freedom to be pursued by other eligible people, especially if you are not sure the person you are with is the one for you.
If you think these reasons will benefit you and your relationship, keep your relationship private and don’t give in to pressure to spill everything out there.
