For most men, maintaining a marriage (let alone a happy and flourishing one) isn’t always easy; in fact, sometimes it can feel like the most difficult thing in the world – but it doesn’t have to feel like that.
Every marriage (and every relationship in general) has rough patches, but there are a number of ways that you and your partner can work through these troubling times and come out stronger and happier than ever before.
Your parents must’ve taught you the phrase “if you want something, work for it”, right? Well – marriages take work.
Below, we’ve outlined our top 5 tips for creating a strong, healthy marriage, to help you nurture, repair, or simply preserve what you and your spouse share.
1.Commitment and Dedication
Things will get hard. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
This does not mean there will be some major problem in your marriage, no – but there will come a time when something difficult to deal with comes along.
Many marriages fail because when this difficult time comes, often one partner believes it is easier to leave than to face the problem together.
If you want a happy marriage, you have to stand by your commitment to work together, through the good and the bad.
2.Focus on the Positive
Furthermore, it is easier to get through the tough times together if you are able to focus on the positive.
Everyone has flaws, everyone experiences hardship, and everyone makes mistakes – if you only focus on what is wrong with your marriage or your partner, you will lose sight of the positives that undoubtedly outweigh those negatives you are picking at.
3.Go to Counselling
You may not think so, but counselling can strengthen a marriage.
Not only can counselling provide a neutral third party to aid in resolving issues, but it can also prompt discussions (and subsequently solutions) that would not happen without the influence of that third party.
4.Be Patient
Patience is key.
Having patience with your spouse will, first and foremost, help you survive those certain aspects of your routine day-by-day lives that may drive you crazy. Additionally, patience is imperative to outlasting any of those low-periods your relationship may encounter.
5.Communicate!
Talk! Talk about everything with your partner.
Have simple, easy, fun, silly conversations about things that don’t matter; and also have deep, difficult, important discussions about the hard topics that you would rather avoid.
Keeping things bottled up is a great way to create unwanted distance between you and your spouse – and hey, no one can fix something that they don’t know is broken.
Don’t forget, how you talk is just as important as what you talk about.
You Have To Work For It
Like anything rewarding in life, a successful and happy marriage is something you have to work for – we’ve said it once (at least) and we’ll say it again.
Things don’t just fall into place and problems don’t just work themselves out, but that’s okay.
As long as you are willing to try (really try), to put in time and effort, and to commit yourself, you can have the marriage your neighbours will be jealous of, your kids will look up to, and your heart will be happy with.
