My how time flies when you're having fun. Many people spend a lot of time focusing their energy on planning their weddings, but few couples actually come together to determine ways to make their partnership work over the long haul.
Those of you who already watched my video on how I met my husband already know that our story was pretty unusual because we had an extensive phone “relationship” before we met in person. I strongly believe that this helped to set a strong foundation in our relationship.
Like all marriages, we have faced a few challenges and have received many, many blessings, but first and foremost, being married has brought us much closer as a couple and we continue to learn more and more about one another each and every day.
I am grateful to have married such a loving, caring, understanding man who respects me, lets me be me, and accepts me as I am. I am so blessed to have him by my side in this adventure called life.
With that said, I wanted to offer up some tips that will help couples learn how to have a happy marriage and place their focus on the pertinent details of their relationship and create lasting bonds.
Avoid Judgment
Regardless of what stage of your relationship you are in, it is always important to keep an open mind concerning mistakes that your partner might make. Couples tend to place each other on pedestals at the onset of their marriage. They imagine that there is very little that their partners could ever do wrong. As time passes, however, it becomes more and more apparent within these relationships that all people are human and capable of making mistakes.
So, when an issue arises in the relationship, it is very important for both partners to remain fully committed to each other as a team, rather than trying to assess and place blame. Working out the difficult areas as a team is a far more productive and effective method of problem solving than attempting to place the blame for the issue on the other partner. It is also important to remember that accountability is also a must. For example, awhile back, I inadvertently caused a checking account to become overdrawn, I owned up to the error and made sure to avoid making the same mistake in the future.
Make A List Of Things You Love To Do Together And Do Them
Most complaints about married life revolve around the dramatic changes in the lifestyles of married couples that occur. With all the dating involved, life often seems to be more spontaneous and fun before this major commitment is made. In reality, however, most people simply stop investing as much effort in their relationship once they have taken a trip down the aisle. It's up to you to make sure this does not happen.
Hubby and I both love to travel and made it a priority to travel and explore new places together. I thought that would change after the birth of our son, but it has not. Even before our son's first birthday, we traveled to South America, the Caribbean and St. Croix. Since then, we've continued to travel extensively and have fostered a love of travel in our young son.
Keep The Lines Of Communication Open
This is probably the most important point. Keeping the lines of communication open is a common suggestion of most marriage counselors and other relationship experts. This often seems more easily said than done, however, and can be one of the most difficult things for couples to do. More often than not, when there is trouble within the lines of communication, it exists because there are things that people are afraid to say or that they are unwilling to hear. Being the first person to initiate difficult conversations, can help to free up the lines of communication and help keep the marriage moving forward.