Finding a partner you want to spend your life with can be a challenge in itself. But, if you’re lucky enough to have found that person you want to build something beautiful with, it can take work to keep it alive. Work, but it doesn’t have to be hard. Communicating your expectations, boundaries and your wants will ensure better success in your relationship in the long run.
DON’T SET UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
Standards and expectations are good things to set as long as they are realistic. The last thing you want to do to your partner is set expectations so high that they are impossible to reach. Learning to be vocal with your partner at what you’d like out of a relationship is important. Do you want flowers regularly? Say that. Do you want date night once a month? Say that. Don’t expect your partner to be able to read your mind.
There are some people out there whose love languages will meet yours. You won’t need to ask for flowers or spontaneous date nights. But not everybody is the same. It doesn’t mean you have a bad partner if you need to communicate that you want those things in your relationship.
Unrealistic expectations can really put a damper on your relationship and cause strain. Just because your partner hasn’t whisked you away to Paris for the weekend doesn’t mean they’re a bad partner. Set those expectations at a realistic level.
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DON’T COMPARE
With the way social media is at the moment, it can be so easy to compare your relationship to the ones you see online. The internet is full of videos of what look like the perfect relationships. You see the highlight reels of peoples lives and then worry why your relationship isn’t like that.
What the internet doesn’t show are the fights that go on behind closed doors, the difficult conversations and that conflict that can sometimes occur. All of these things are normal and every couple goes through them. Just because you see what looks like a perfect relationship online, doesn’t always mean thats what it’s like in reality.
The only thing comparison does to your relationship is take the joy out of it.
SPEND INTENTIONAL TIME TOGETHER
Intentional time is time set aside regularly to help you be closer to your partner. And Intentional time can look so different for every couple. Maybe it’s setting aside an evening a week to go out for dinner and having uninterrupted time together. Or maybe it’s a movie night at home, just the two of you.
Intentional time is just that, intentional. It’s time you’ve specifically put aside to reconnect with your partner. Figure out how often you’d like this to be and make it a priority.
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LOVE EACH OTHER UNCONDITIONALLY
“Unconditional love, simply put, is love without strings attached. It’s love you offer freely.
You don’t base it on what someone does for you in return. You simply love them and want nothing more than their happiness.”
– https://www.healthline.com
To love each other unconditionally is love in its purest form. It means there is nothing you need to do in order for me to love you.
Loving each other unconditionally is the bare minimum in keeping your relationship alive and healthy. It should be something that comes with making a commitment to another person. It’s just something that you do.
GIVE EACH OTHER SPACE
The saying ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ is so cliche, but it’s so true. Spending every waking hour with your partner might work for you, but for some it doesn’t. Making sure you have time away from one another can actually bring you closer together.
If you’re with each other all the time, how do you have a chance to miss the other person? It’s also beneficial to ensure you keep those outside relationships aside from your own relationship with your partner alive. Alot of people get into relationships and neglect their friendships, which in turn causes your whole life to be about your partner.
Having that healthy balance between spending time with your partner and having time away is important.
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