Relationships are hard.
So many movies show the couple falling in love and getting married and end with…”And they lived happily ever after.
This is a lie. They don’t. Nobody does.
Marriage is work. Hard, painful, work. But so very rewarding if you dig into the deep.
Intimacy is its own reward. We often come into a relationship looking for someone else to complete us, to make us whole.
Spoiler Alert: They won’t.
Only you can heal yourself. The healthier you are as an individual, the healthier all your other relationships will be, whether as a spouse, parent, friend, or coworker.
Here are some wonderful exercises I’ve gathered from other smart professionals that can help you improve your marriage now. Remember, a relationship takes time to cultivate, just like a garden. If you plant and water the seeds, flowers will grow.
Jordan Gray is a relationship coach, and I really like their Clearing Exercise.
Often we just want our partners to know what we need, but this is like asking someone to read your mind. Can you read your partner’s mind? Even very in-tune people will have trouble knowing exactly what the other person needs. If only there was a way to find out. Hmmm…
How about a List of Specific Questions? Yup, that’ll work!
Tashi Ridley, LCSW has put together a great list of 12 Exercises to Increase Marital Intimacy.
Before you moan about not having time for this, do you go to the gym to take care of your body? Go to the doctor for a yearly physical? Go grocery shopping to provide needed food? Keeping a marriage healthy takes effort and is worth it.
When your marriage is healthy, you experience emotional and physical benefits, and so do the kiddos and fur-babies that you live with. The more energy you spend connecting with the people you love, everyone in that circle benefits, and the benefits flow outward to your community, city, state, country, and the world. One person can make a difference.
Two people committed to each other can make incredible changes.
