Holly Riordan

For a moment, let’s set aside the fact that you’re probably more loved than you realize. You might not be in a relationship, but someone could be crushing on you from afar. You might not see your friends every single day but they could be thinking of you right now. You might not keep in…

People who make you feel guilty about doing what’s best for yourself. You need to put your mental health first. If others don’t understand your needs, it’s not your problem. You can’t worry more about their happiness than your comfort. You don’t want to sacrifice your mental health in order to make others like you.…

Communication is one of the most important pieces to a strong, healthy relationship. Love isn’t enough. Effort isn’t enough. You need to feel like you can talk to your partner and encourage them to talk to you. If you shut each other out, it’ll only ruin the relationship. Here are some reasons why you need…

You don’t want to find yourself trapped in a relationship where you’re always on alert. You don’t want your alarm bells to go off whenever your person leaves the house without you, whenever they take a minute too long to text back, whenever they tell you a story about their day. If you can’t trust…

You shouldn’t stay in a relationship where you’re miserable or lonely or neglected. If you want to try to make the relationship work for a while, that’s wonderful, but you need to stay realistic. You need to recognize when your hard work isn’t paying off, when the other person isn’t putting in any effort, when…

This person is directing their effort elsewhere. You know they aren’t lazy because they can put in the work when the time is right. The problem is, they’re not putting in the work with you. They’re perfectly nice to their family members and bosses and friends, maybe even other potential love interests, but they don’t…

You feel emotionally drained after every conversation with them. This person is always involved in some sort of drama. They always have a problem with a friend, a partner, a relative, or a coworker. And most of the time, these problems are repetitive. They keep making the same mistake over and over again. They never…

I’m tired of trying so hard to be a good person and getting it thrown back in my face. I’m tired of people treating me in the most hurtful, heartbreaking ways. I’m tired of trying to do the right thing, to play by the rules, to treat people with kindness, and then having them treat…

The right person might not understand your anxiety, but they will accept that it is a part of you. They won’t hold it against you. They won’t vilify you over it. They won’t get mad at you when you clam up in social situations. They won’t make you feel guilty about canceling plans or being…

It’s so much harder to get over your exes when social media exists. Even though you should mute (or delete) their accounts, the temptation to check in on them is overwhelming. You want to see what they’re up to without you. You want to check the background of their pictures to see who they’ve been…

Texts demanding that you prove where you are. If your person trusts you, then they should believe you when you tell them you’re out with your friends or are busy working. If they demand you send them photographic evidence that you’re really where you say you are, even though you’ve given them no reason to…

Soft hearts struggle with modern dating because their clinginess can be seen as a weakness. In reality, it’s proof that they care. It’s insurance that they have feelings for you and aren’t afraid to admit it. Soft-hearted humans are going to be clear about their intentions and their expectations. They are unabashedly honest – which…

You shouldn’t have to stress about them cheating. If they love you, they’ll express that love in a million little ways. They’ll never leave you wondering whether their feelings for you are fading. They’ll never make you question whether they’re still interested in you or have set their sights somewhere new. They’ll stay faithful, and…

Don’t date them because you feel uncomfortable carrying the single label into your late twenties or thirties. Don’t date them because you feel like you’re running out of time, like all the best people are already taken, like you need to settle for scraps. Don’t date them because you’re getting pressured by family members to…

Dates where they’re doing all the talking. If they’re genuinely interested in your life, then they should be asking questions. They should be trying to learn more about you. They shouldn’t be spending the entire time going on about their own life. Of course, the opposite is also true. If they’re expecting you to divulge…