With half of all married couples divorcing, it is common to start wondering whether marriage is something you should opt for. You may be worried about whether you can make it work for the rest of your life. However, there are plenty of couples around the world who stay together for years to come, and continue to love and cherish each other. Here are six tips from them to make your marriage successful.
Communication Is Essential
You need to communicate with each other. It’s important to discuss your dreams and aspirations, and talk to each other about financial decisions. There’s no point hiding things.
That will just lead to distrust and stress between you. You will find out each other’s secrets eventually, but the time often makes them harder to deal with.
Treat Each Other as a Priority
Don’t keep putting off what you can do today. It’s easy to put everything else before your partner, whether it’s work, friends and even the housework. You need to spend time with each other, and put each other first now and then.
Make your spouse a priority in your life, and your partner will do the same for you. This shows that you have respect for the other person, and know that it is a two-way street.
Please and Thank You Go a Long Way
Don’t forget your manners. It’s really easy to start taking your partner for granted, and it can happen the other way around.
Many married couples find that this happens later in life, usually without ever realising the warning signs were there. Before you let it go further, whether you’re on the receiving end or giving end, put on the breaks and remember the good manners.
Don’t Forget the Romance
As you get further along into your lives together, you’ll get into a routine. There’s nothing completely wrong with this, as long as the romance is there too.
The last thing you want is to get stuck in a rut. Organise surprises, and go away with each other now and then. Children make it harder, but it is certainly not impossible.
Spend Time With Each Other and Without Each Other
You don’t need to spend every waking moment together, but you do need to spend time together.
It’s important to find that fine balance. Organise to spend some time with your friends, and arrange to go away and see family without the other half. However, arrange meals with your partner as just the two of you.
Subtle Hints Don’t Work
The subtle hints won’t work. Your partner needs you to be open and honest about what you want. If there is trouble in paradise, tell your partner that and discuss what you can both do to change that.
When there is something you want to happen, make that clear by being outright and honest. Subtle hints will annoy your partner, and it annoys you because the thing that you want just doesn’t get done.