The journey of a thousand miles often begins with a step. A thousand mile journey isn’t any different from a relationship. For a relationship to last long, there are a lot of emotional needs you need to fulfill. Every human has an emotional need, so you need to find out what your partner wants or perhaps needs and then try to fulfill them.

The layman’s definition of an emotional need refers to a craving that when satisfied, leaves you with a feeling of happiness and contentment and love for your partner, but when it’s not satisfied, makes you feel the entire opposite of the former feelings.

There has often been a divide between relationship needs and emotional needs, but from my own point of view, these two are quite interchangeable.

Now, let’s take a look at some basic definitions.

Want: The 8th edition of the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines “want” as a desire or a wish for something. Over a period of time, this desire often turns into a need.

Need: A “need” refers to something that is essential; something that you cannot do without.

What do partners want or need in a relationship?

It is pertinent to note at this point that there is just a slight demarcation between wants and needs, since the former often develops into the latter if it’s met at the initial stage. A typical illustration of the interrelationship between the two terms is this…

A woman may want her man to spend more time with her. He often obliges, but the more he does that, the more she desires it. It becomes an integral part of her routine; something that she cannot do without.

Meeting the following basic relationship and emotional needs will make your partner feel peace, love and a sense of belonging and this implies that you’ve taken the time to focus on doing something that they’ll appreciate very much.

I have taken the time to categorize them into two major divisions, which I would elucidate in my next post.

Here they are…

A sense of humor
Admiration
Affection
Appreciation
Companionship
Compassion
Conversational/Communication needs
Domestic support
Energy
Family commitment
Financial needs
Honesty
Novelty
Openness
Physical touch
Praise and approval
Respect
Security
Sensuous affection/sexual needs
Space/freedom
Spiritual support
To be seen
To feel cherished
To feel like they can count on you
Validation
Visionary support
Men’s needs in a relationship

Have you ever wondered what males need in a relationship?

Unlike women, men’s emotional needs are quite predictable to a certain degree. For observant women, they’ll notice this in the course of their relationship whilst the others who aren’t observant are in for some deep challenge since men are much more prone to silently suffering when their emotional needs aren’t met.

Wondering why men are silent sufferers?

Here’s why.

On the average, a female gets approached by over 5 different males. How many times have you heard that a man got approached by 5 different males on a daily basis?

The list of men’s emotional needs in a relationship are

Energy
Feminine energy
Novelty
PDA – Public display of affection
Physical touch
Praise and approval/appreciation
Respect
Security
Sexual needs
Space/freedom
A lot of males would agree with this. As a matter of fact, this quote sums it up…

When you meet all your man’s emotional needs, you will make him feel loved, important and respected.

Wait!

What about the females? We haven’t seen…

The emotional needs of a woman!

A man that falls in love with a woman by virtue of her indispensability or perhaps her personal virtues and the value she adds to his life, tries as much as possible to meet her needs, financially and emotionally. Sometimes, he becomes boring and easily predictable. Other times, he isn’t doing the right thing.

Here’s a list of women’s emotional needs…

Affection (including affectionate gestures)
Appreciation
Attentiveness
Communication
Companionship
Family connections
Honesty
Openness
PDA – Public display of affection
Respect and understanding
Sexual needs
To feel like she can count on you
To feel like she’s the only girl in the world
In subsequent posts, we’ll look in-depth at the contents of this basic relationship and emotional needs list and see how they affect our relationships.

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Photo Credit: Betches