6 Tips to Keep Your Relationship ALIVE!

[Cari_Z]

I am asked over and over again it is normal for long term relationships to “fizzle”. Relationships fizzle only when the couple doesn’t invest in the communication and time it takes to keep a relationship alive. I have discovered that it’s not the big things that come between couples that make the closeness dissipate; it’s the little things.

It’s the lack of communication on the little things that build, getting bigger and bigger until the relationship starts to fizzle. Couple’s begin to ignore each other physically and emotionally. The women usually pull away physically; the men pull away emotionally.

We have to remember that our relationship or marriage is a top priority and, like any relationship, we need to spend time together to make it work. And, for the most part, most of us haven’t been taught how to keep a relationship alive and growing. We studied algebra and grammar in school; not relationship or marriage skills.

Here are 6 tips for you to start working on today! Start making YOUR relationship sizzle…not fizzle.

1. Talk to your partner about what you would like the relationship to look and feel like. The other person needs to do the same; which means that YOU have to listen to what your partner has to say. This is difficult for many to do. It is easy to be defensive, but if you truly want a strong and healthy relationship, you must openly listen to what the other person is saying.

2. Spend at least 30 minutes a day connecting with each other. Turn the television and computer off. Ask him/her what they did at work or home that day or what particular challenges they faced.

3. Look over your priorities in life. Is your relationship on the top of that list? It needs to be. Spend some time thinking about what this means to you and your partner.

4. Just like you find time to talk on the phone or go out with your friends, do the same with your partner. Schedule at least 2 hours alone together every two weeks. Go on a walk, out for lunch/dinner or take a drive.

5. Compliment each other once a day. Let your partner know that he/she looks great or that you’re proud of the way he helped the children with homework or that you’re proud of the way she worked on that project at work.

6. Smile at each other. Did you know that 90% of the time when we smile at someone, they will smile back?