‘Listen, don’t interrupt’: 7 thing EVERY couple should do

by Nairita Mukherjee

couple

1. Listen, don’t interrupt
Healthy communication is the key to a successful relationship. Promise to be verbal about your likes, dislikes and wants, but at the same time, make sure you are not argumentative about it. Find out whether they are in the right frame of mind before you start bombarding your partner with complaints. Resolve every conflict peacefully by analysing each other’s points of view.

2. Express your love
“One common mistake most couples make is that they stop saying the three magical words ‘I loveyou,’” says Dr Sajid Ali Khan, psychiatrist. However, expressing your love for your partner is all the more important when it comes to a long-term relationship — plan a surprise date or bring her some roses. These subtle gestures go a long way in strengthening your bond.

3. Praise more, criticise less
Blame it on your stressful lifestyle, but you often end up lashing out on your partner for no reason. You tend to look for the most minute faults in your partner. Look for the good things that they have done for you, rather than what they haven’t. Everyone likes to be appreciated, so compliment her on the beautiful dinner she has cooked or thank him when he helps out with the dishes.

4. Start doing an activity together 
Indulge in a leisure activity, like joining the gym, going for a morning walk or even taking a Salsa lesson together. This increases bonding between two people. “Spending quality time together not only helps strengthen your bond but also keeps you feeling happy and accepted,” says Dr Khan. It will help take your mind off other stressful things and focus on each other. Further, you can also take a vacation together at least once a month, even if it’s just a weekend getaway.

5. Be more involved 
As a couple, you are a unit. Therefore make it a point to work like one. Both of you need to be involved and take an active part in every decision-making. Be it the finances for the month or who to invite for the weekend party, make sure you sit down and discuss. The evergreen reply, ‘Whatever you do is fine with me’ is not going to work anymore, it’s time to be more responsible towards one another.

6. Space is important 
No matter how much time you spend together, it is equally important to have some space in your relationship. Pop culture may tell you to do everything under the sun together as a couple, but spending some time apart from each other is also necessary. Give your partner a breather once in a while and encourage them to go out with their friends.

7. Let bygones, be bygones 
Make a fresh start and swear not to bring up the past, irrespective of the disagreements and quarrels that have soured your relationship. It is crucial to move on in life and give your relationship a new meaning.


8. Resolutions

Sit down and make a list of the negative things in your relationship and not in your partner. Often couples confuse the two which results in complications. Change what’s wrong in your relationship and don’t try to change your lover.

For any couple, there’s more to the relationship than just loving one another. Patience is equally important,  for the two to be in sync. Instead of losing your calm, try and be a little more patient this year.

When in doubt, think about that one thing that is emblematic of the both of you as a couple. It could be a song, a movie or the spot where the two of you met. Happy memories always churn happy emotions and will cast a positive impact on your relationship.

Clarity is the crux of every relationship. No matter how small or how big the matter is, do not hide it from your partner. Secrecy doesn’t destroy liaisons, suspicion does. So don’t let that monster creep in.

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Read this article in iDiva

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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