Be it a guy or a girl, even if you have been in a relationship for years, you will still not be able to put down the exact ingredients of a stable relationship. So, what makes a good relationship? Is it just love? Is it just trust? Or is it just compatibility? Truth is, it is a mixture of all of these and much more. Here is our recipe that contains the traits of a healthy relationship! The following ingredients will be required to cook up a good relationship.

• Love - Well, let's face it, a relationship without love is kind of non-existent.
• Romance - Romance adds the butterflies in the stomach, even to regular activities.
• Respect - If two people don't respect each other, co-existence is near impossible.
• Passion - Having passion in a relationship is like having salt in a recipe. Without it, there will be color, but no taste.
• Empathy - Empathy is very important in a relationship. Lack of empathy would render the relationship abusive.
• Understanding - It is important to be able to understand each other. It is through understanding that a connection develops, and respect and love can be discovered.
• Acceptance - If you are in a relationship with a person, you need to accept him/her for what he/she is. If you have it in the back of your mind that you will eventually change him, then the relationship will not work out.
• Friendship - Basically, in a relationship, you need to be able to laugh at each other, cry with each other, and yell at each other. Who better to do that than a friend?

These are the basic, most important ingredients of a secure relationship. Mix them up in the quantities that you see fit, based on your and your partner's nature. But, for you to understand the mixing, you need to understand the ingredients. Let's move on to that aspect of the relationship advice. Love is what holds everything together. It is the basic ingredient. Like, if you were cooking chicken, love would be the chicken of your recipe. Love is the reason why you are making the effort of bringing in the other ingredients. However, if this ingredient gets too much importance, it would be wrong. Like, you cannot have only chicken in your dish, right? You need to add spices and other ingredients. Just like that, a relationship with only love will meet its end soon enough! Romance works like a fuel for the fireplace. It keeps the fire alive. It is all about keeping in mind what the other one likes, what pleases her/him, what excites her, and acting accordingly. That means, the couple needs to keep the romance and the charm alive to keep the relationship going. Romance is the break from the mundane everyday duties, the vacation from regularity that you need. So, keep a regular balance of romance to maintain a good relationship. They say, sex is very important in a marriage. True that! However, more than the sex, passion is important. There should be a longing in the couple for each other. It is the passion that makes each touch, each kiss, each blink of the eye mean a lot more than that which meets the eye. You see those aging couples walking hand in hand; it is the passion that keeps them there. The passion to stay together despite the odds; that is what makes for a good relationship. Lack of empathy in a relationship would spell doom for it. You need to have a basic know-how about the other person. How they think, how they react and how they behave. It is this empathy that makes a couple manage living with each other for a longer time. It is this empathy that helps a couple do those small, small things that make the other person happy. Have you heard those women who go "Oh, that is just how he is!" or men say things like "That's my girl"? That is out of empathy! Understanding and acceptance go hand in hand. In a relationship, it is important to understand the other person. It is the understanding that overlooks the jealousy. More so, acceptance is required in a relationship. If you cannot accept the person for what they truly are, then the relationship will be a farce. A balanced relationship is made by two people who understand each other and accept each other with the flaws. Friendship is that ingredient which adds magic to the relationship. If two people can be lovers and friends at the same time, they have a complete relationship. Friendship allows the two to laugh together at their silliness, yell at each other for the mistakes, and cry with each other for the losses. How complete do you feel in the company of a friend? That is the feeling that you will have with a partner, if you both share friendship in your relationship as well! And the most essential of all is TRUST! The trust between you and your partner is what will bind you together through all stages. Where there's trust, there's no faking, no lying, no hiding stuff―everything's crystal clear! While the amount and the percentage of all these ingredients may have differed from person to person, each ingredient is important for a long-term relationship. This is where we sign off! Happy loving!