Having a partner is a wonderful thing.
Whether you’re only dating for a few months or you’ve been married for years, it takes two to make a relationship work.
As time goes on, you’ll be going through what most relationships inevitably do: trials and hardships.
This is how you determine if you’re right for each other, and if you’re both willing to make things work.
While counselling for marital problems is always an option, it’s usually best to try to fix the relationship yourselves before opting for counseling.
Here are the things you can do to help improve the quality of your relationship with your partner:
1. Schedule Regular Date Nights
Whether you’re both free every Saturday night or once a month, schedule a regular date night to keep the spark alive.
Just because you’ve been together for a couple of years doesn’t mean that you’ve skipped the good parts.
Date nights are what make a relationship exciting.
They also helps to strengthen your relationship with one another, especially when you rarely get to hang out due to your busy schedules.
Have a great dinner, go to the movies, watch a small concert – anything that you both enjoy.
Make sure that you always make time for your date nights.
Contrary to popular belief, having regular date nights doesn’t have to be expensive or tedious.
You can have memorable date nights at home by cooking your own meals and binge-watching your favorite series.
You can even take it up a notch by decorating your own dinner table with some flowers and candles to surprise your partner.
2. Communicate
Communication is key in every relationship. If you’re having problems, be transparent and share them with your partner so that they know what you’re going through.
Don’t keep things to yourself, and expect your partner to understand when they have no idea what causes your frustration.
Bottling up your emotions can cause a lot of problems down the road because aside from adversely affecting your relationship, this can also take a toll on your own mental health.
Along with this, you should also check-in with them throughout the day, and try not to demand a response.
We all have our personal lives.
You can just inform them that you’ve arrived at work, and will probably be busy all day – that you’ll talk to them once you’re free.
You and your partner should be open to each other all the time.
The more open you are to each other, the easier it’ll be for the two of you to share and fix problems.
3. Spend Time with Each Other
It’s always important that you spend time with each other to help strengthen your relationship.
You shouldn’t settle for text messages and phone calls when you can physically be with each other.
Set a schedule for your dates, and do activities together.
Regardless of how busy you are during the day, you should always set a schedule to have fun with your partner.
For instance, if you’re too busy during the weekday, invite your partner for an out-of-town trip during the weekend.
You can also take them out on surprise dates after work or watch a movie together.
Relationships take work, and you shouldn’t expect it to be successful if you can’t even make time for one another.
4. Know When to Apologize
Not all arguments are supposed to be taken seriously. Some arguments are tiny, and can easily be forgotten.
Learn to apologize, even when you’re right.
Sometimes your partner’s feelings are more important than whatever point you were trying to make.
If you want to improve the quality of your relationship, you shouldn’t let your ego control you.
Instead, you should exert effort to make amends with your partner in every argument.
Doing this might be tough at first but it’ll be worth it in the long run as you’ll be able to make your relationship healthier.
5. Know your Boundaries
Know your boundaries when you’re pushing things to the limit, and set your pride aside.
A relationship is a two-way street, and both of you should exert the same amount of effort; don’t let your partner do all the hard work.
They need to be cared for, too.
6. Learn to Appreciate
You don’t just appreciate your partner when they’ve bought you an expensive gift.
Learn how to appreciate every little thing they do, like texting you every morning, opening the door for you, picking you up from work, paying for dinner, washing the dishes: any small thing that you’d usually look past.
Let them know that you appreciate what they’re doing. A simple “thank you” goes a long way.
Instead of nagging about what your partner can’t do in the relationship, focus on the things they can do and be grateful for it.
Having this kind of mindset will bring more positivity to the relationship and prevent problems in the long run.
7. Love Language
You should figure out you and your partner’s love language, and work on that.
If your love language is quality time, your partner should know that they need to set extra hours aside, for you to be happy in the relationship.
You should do the same for your partner, once you find out what their love language is.
8. Honor Alone Time
A healthy relationship is one that allows both participants to grow individually, and to not be a hindrance along the way.
Instead of trapping them in your ways, encourage their own; help them become a better version of themselves, but avoid being overly critical.
Conclusion
It’s not all sparkles and butterflies.
When the honeymoon phase is over, and you’re faced with the real deal, don’t leave.
When things get difficult, it doesn’t mean that you’re not right for each other.
That’s just life.
Try to make the relationship work for both of you, and learn to compromise.
Be fair with one another, and never think of one person winning the relationship and the other losing.
You should be a team.
Make sure that your partner is also doing their part; this is a two-way relationship, and it requires the co-operation of both parties.