I think we can all agree that a little flirting every now and then can only be healthy. But things get a little dicey when you’re actually dating someone. When you’re in a committed relationship, how much of checking another person out or flirting with another person becomes too much? When does it escape the territory of “natural human tendency” and enter something that feels more like “cheating”?
The issue here is that flirting outside a relationship – or even simply “looking” at another person – means different things to different people. And what it means for you may not be the same thing it means for your partner. This ambiguity, I’m willing to bet, has caused a lot of problems in many relationships: while one person may think to check someone else out is natural, the other person may consider that a deal-breaker.
So how does one navigate this grey area?
Since there is no hard-and-fast definition of the word “flirting” and there are no set-in-stone boundaries established by default, it’s up to each couple to do this themselves. Communication, perhaps, is the most important thing: are you on the same page when it comes to flirting outside of your relationship? And if you’re not, are you willing to adjust your definition/boundaries and find some middle ground? This will be the answer you’re looking for: either you find something you can live with, or you realise that this is going to be too big of an issue for you to ever get through.
And if you’ve not discussed this but are suddenly faced with the situation (realising your boyfriend was checking your friend out at a party, or hearing that your girlfriend sometimes flirts with guys at the gym), then it’s probably a good idea to get the talk started. There’s nothing to be gained by ignoring the situation or avoiding the conversation because you’re too angry. We all know what happens when that’s done in a relationship: the issue keeps cropping up again and again until it eventually blows up into a bigger deal than it was in the first place.
If you’ve been keeping up with Sony LIV’s LoveBytes, then you would have noticed that – unfortunately – Abhi and Ananya make the whole “go to bed angry” mistake. But here’s hoping that the next morning, they decide to resolve the issues. Guess we’ll have to wait for episode 6 to see what happens – but in the meantime, check out the latest episode below:
What do you think – how much flirting is too much flirting? And what do you think is the best way to tackle this issue?
This post is in partnership with Sony LIV.