When it comes to maintaining healthy relationships with you significant other, one area that is key is honesty. There is a reason why people say that honesty is the best policy.

But should it be the only policy? Can you still be honest while maintaining a healthy privacy boundary in a relationship?

The simple answer is yes. And it’s important that you do.

Your partner is entitled to mutual respect and trust, but they are not entitled to know every inch of every aspect of your personal life. However, there is a difference between privacy and a secret.

When it comes to privacy, it’s a mutual understanding that each person had a life before the other came along. There were past relationships, times of love and loss, and moments of success and failure.

Privacy is understanding and trusting that old relationships are over and the past is the past. Not drudging up things that happened a lifetime ago is one way a spouse can show respect for the other’s personal privacy.

A secret is more deceiving. If your spouse asks a question and you find yourself lying or changing the story a little, that is keeping a secret that could eventually hurt someone’s feelings should that secret get figured out.

Keeping secrets is never something any couple should get into the habit of, but maintaining personal privacy is completely different and healthy.

It’s also healthy for couples to have their personal space and room to continue to grow and learn as an individual. Being part of a couple is a great feeling, but maintaining independence and keeping focused on personal goals is also essential for the relationship.

It allows for both parties to feel like they are contributing and growing together. It’s when one is off forging a path and career while the other remains stagnant that resentment and jealousy can start to become an issue.

Both parties need to feel like they are maintaining their identity. With that comes mutual trust for each other’s privacy and independence.

By doing so a healthy relationship can grow with equal contribution and trust.