Just because a relationship has lasted a long time doesn’t mean it’s working.
According to a study from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, only 60% of those polled reported being very happy in their relationship in 2014.
And even though global divorce rates are soaring, we often overlook that millions of people across the globe don’t leave their toxic or unfulfilling relationships.
But what’s worse is that we often think of the duration of a relationship as an indicator of happiness.
The truth, however, is that millions of people stay in relationships they’d love to leave because they’re used to it.
They think they already invested so much into the relationship and end up being trapped in the Sunk Cost Fallacy, which makes things even worse: They don’t want to end the relationship because they already invested so much time. Yet, nothing changes, and they’re unhappy and dissatisfied. But with each new attempt, they invest even more time and energy, so they become even more attached to the relationship, and the cycle repeats itself for years, decades, or a lifetime.
In the end, both partners end up having wasted way more time and energy than needed, and they’d both be better off by just parting their ways when they first realized there’s a mismatch.
