Having self confidence is the first step in helping to make your future relationships healthy and long-lasting. This section offers some important ideas for getting (and keeping) your confidence up.

• Associate with positive, supportive people. If your friends are constantly down on themselves (or you), how can you keep a good attitude?
• Stop comparing yourself to others. Yeah, your friend might have a gorgeous new car and might be getting straight A's, but do you know what's going on behind the scenes in their lives? You rarely know the full story about someone else, so don't assume that you're worse off.
• Stop putting yourself down. Most people say things to themselves that they would NEVER let a stranger (or even a close friend) say to them.
• Maturity inspires patience, tolerance, and a genuine willingness to work out problems that might develop - key ingredients to a successful and healthy relationship. People at different levels of maturity with a variety of personalities find themselves attracted to different types of people. Being aware of your maturity level can be a huge help with developing a healthy relationship.

BOTTOM LINE

Do you have a clear idea of your personality? Of your goals, likes, dislikes, interests, values, wants, and needs? Personality characteristics tend to be fairly stable over time, but sometimes the many dimensions of our personality remain hidden to us until we are challenged by new experiences.

If you haven't considered these things - you might not be ready to enter into a healthy relationship. If you don't know yourself, you're probably not ready to truly know anyone else.