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You deserve better than this half-relationship.
By PopSugar
Last updated on Sep 18, 2023
By Laura Lifshitz
You don't go around announcing it, but people can tell your marriage... sucks. You alternate between hiding how bad it is by making everything look "Facebook perfect" and revealing to friends just how frustrated you are. Sometimes you think that maybe it's just how marriage is. Sometimes you wonder if maybe your expectations are too high.
Either way, it's clear from the outside that you are settling for a miserable marriage, thanks to these 10 signs.
Here are 10 tragic signs you're settling in your relationship:
1. The two of you act differently around others
The two of you act differently around others. You cover up the unhappiness and try to make it look like "business as usual," but both of you are thinking that things are just not good at all!
2. Your partner is giving you crumbs of love . . . or vice versa
These crumbs of love aren't enough, and you or your partner constantly feels as if something is missing . . . as if either one of you has to beg for affection and love.
3. You are making up and breaking up like it's in the job description
The two of you threaten divorce and then make up more times than either of you can count. It's more dramatic than a soap opera!
4. Most of your time is spent wondering if all marriages are like this
If you're really wondering if your marriage is normal . . . well, perhaps it's not! If you spend a lot of time comparing your marriage to others, not only is that a bad habit to get into and destructive, but it may also be because you're so unhappy and don't understand why.
5. You live parallel lives, frequently venturing off alone
If the two of you aren't spending any time together and your existence runs parallel, your marriage is most likely miserable.
6. One sign of a miserable marriage? Always waiting for your partner
Whether it's literally waiting for your spouse to show up or metaphorically waiting on your partner's hand and foot, you're not in a happy marriage.
7. The bedroom is quiet
You and your spouse are rarely intimate. So rarely, in fact, that you are starting to feel very lonely. And unwanted.
8. You make so many wishes: wishing it were better . . . wishing he or she were different
You have a million regrets about your marriage. Instead of thinking about real-life strategies to make it better at this point, you just wish it were different, but you know it's not. You know deep inside that you are unhappily married.
9. You're happier when he or she is not around
You live for alone time. You envision the future without your spouse but never say this to him or her. You feel single, even though you certainly aren't.
10. Your daily mood? Sad, depressed and distracted
Your friends and family hate seeing you this way. They notice how unhappy you are. People hate seeing you settle. Even if you start to acknowledge your depressive state about your marriage, you feel trapped and hopeless.
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Laura Lifshitz is a former MTV personality and Columbia University graduate currently writing about divorce, intimacy, women’s issues, fitness, parenting, and marriage. Her work has been featured on YourTango, New York Times, DivorceForce, Women’s Health, Working Mother, Pop Sugar, and more.
This article was originally published at Popsugar . Reprinted with permission from the author.