When people are planning to get married, many get caught up in the excitement of preparing for a wedding. At this time, it can be hard to imagine that you and your spouse must not live happily ever after. But the reality is that no marriage is perfect. Sharing your life with another person every other day can be challenging, and they get exhausted with time. Therefore, you will need extra effort to make your marriage successful.
Moreover, a marriage that is based on love and mutual respect does not just happen overnight. It requires that both partners do their part. Below are some of the crucial actions that you and your spouse will need to take every day to make your marriage successful in the long run.
- Focus on Each Other Strengths
Seeing past your partner’s minor issues and failings is not right. In most instances, focusing on these issues may result in resentment towards your partner. To have a successful marriage, you must learn to overlook minor weaknesses while being more appreciative of their strengths. This will also help you to set realistic expectations to avoid frustrations.
Also, identifying your lover’s strengths will help you achieve relationship satisfaction, since you help them learn how to complement your weaknesses. For example, if you are poor at cooking but your partner is good at it, they can help you while you clean the dishes. This step can also help boost their confidence in the relationship, since you will not constantly be complaining and making your loved one feel inferior.
- Learn to Forgive
Everyone makes mistakes, and your partner is not an exception. So, if your partner hasn’t already done something to upset, hurt or frustrate you, just know that it is imminent. But guess what? You are most probably doing the same thing. Sometimes, it may be intentional. Other times it might be out of sheer misunderstanding and miscommunication. Thus, it is crucial to understand that no one is perfect and be willing to hear out and forgive your partner when they wrong you. Allow your partner room to make mistakes because you are also human and will also need grace in equal measure.
- Spend More Time Together
As a married couple, you will need to spend more time together to strengthen your marriage. Therefore, you will need to plan and commit to being available for regular dates. Also, you can schedule weekend activities. To enjoy these activities, ensure that you mutually enjoy them. For example, plan for a weekend poker game only if your partner is interested in the same.
However, this doesn’t mean that your partner will automatically enjoy every activity planned. If this happens, stay positive and try to create opportunities for compromise. The goal here is to do something outside your larger family that you both can enjoy. Also, when you realize that you have made a mistake, take prompt action and take responsibility for your actions. This step will help normalize forgiveness and ultimately help breed respect in your union.
- Good Sex
When married, love and affection are not enough to keep your union alive. You will also need a sense of closeness and intimacy for your relationship to blossom and prosper. That said, sex can quickly increase intimacy by bringing back excitement and intensity. In particular, sex can make you forget the things that turned you off. It can also significantly reduce stress and tension.
Sometimes, you might be fighting with your partner, not because something is wrong in the marriage but because you are simply tired or stressed from other outside factors such as workplace conflict. Sex stimulates your feel-good hormones, hence helping you release the tension.
Having regular sex can also help prevent cheating. After being in your marriage for a long time, getting bored is easy. You or your partner might start to look outside your marriage to gratify your growing sexual curiosity and interest. Also, it helps you express your love and care for your partner. The passion triggered during these moments helps spark that was there at the beginning of the relationship, leading to a happy marriage.
- Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle
Although it might not seem directly related to a thriving marriage, adopting a healthy lifestyle can boost the health of your union. In essence, you ought to exercise and eat balanced and nutritious meals to be physically fit. So, how does this work for your marriage’s benefit?
Being active and eating healthy will result in increased energy that can be shared with your partner. In addition, being fit can help increase confidence which is key in initiating intimacy in your union. Dr. Jed Kaminetsky, a board certified Urologist, suggests that a variety of foods, supplements, and exercises can be used to increase blood flow to the penis, which ultimately improves erections. This goes a long way in ensuring sexual satisfaction in the marriage. It also enhances your physical aura, making you look more attractive to your partner and fostering sexual intimacy.
Also, being confident gives you a sense of self-worthiness that you can carry into your relationship. Besides, people with high self-confidence tend to be less jealous and have fewer issues in their relationships.
- Communication
Believe it or not, communication is key to happy and satisfactory marriage. Therefore, you should always strive to clearly and openly communicate with your spouse. Experts recommend that you always be honest about what you’re feeling while maintaining respect as you share. However, you should not neglect active listening and empathy, which are part of good communication.
It is vital that you take time to understand what your spouse wants and needs from you. In addition, work with your spouse to keep the lines of communication open. For example, do not limit your communications to just bills and other day-to-day tasks or chores. Instead, focus on sharing your thoughts and feelings and improving how you treat each other.
Final Thoughts
If you want to fall under the list of happily married couples, consider applying the above-mentioned keys to a happy marriage. It may look like work. However, everything that is good requires effort.
