Strengthen Your Relationships Easily
Strengthen Relationships
Connecting with others is a drive within most people. That drive is the subject of almost any book you pick up and any movie you watch. The desire for connection begins the first time you looked into your parents’ eyes when you were seconds old. It continues throughout childhood, into the angst of adolescence and the chaos and turmoil of adulthood.
Sharing common interests and spending time with the one you love, be it friends, children or partners, is a part of relationship. The most integral part, however, is the emotional connection you have with the other.
People enjoy the excitement of beginning a new relationship. The problem comes when they forget that the fun things they did together at the beginning are important for the continuation of the relationship. You need to continue doing what brought you to this place in your relationship. How you do it will change, but the key is to evolve. You can increase the emotional depth of your relationships by continuing what you did when you were first getting to know each other.
Here are 7 strategies:
- Take a day to be with each other. Remember when you couldn’t wait to be with each other? You wanted to be with your loved one as often as you could. People forget about scheduling all day time with each other especially when they are living in the same household. You still need that time with each other where the focus is each other. This keeps you connected to each other, strengthens your emotional connection and creates wonderful memories you can share with each other.
- You can begin your day with your favorite breakfast or other morning activity. There may be a project you can work on together during the day. Get out of the house and your regular routine if you can. Walk in the park or play games at home. You could even clean out that overflowing closet together. The key is to be together and have a great time.
Create a special memory. Do that thing you’ve always said, “We need to do that.” If there is an activity you both enjoy such as art or scrapbooking, have fun together. Explore a state park somewhere near. You can take lessons to learn a craft or build an object of art to enjoy.
- Relationships are deepened by having shared experiences you can look back on and remember with a smile.
- Share something few people know about you. Trusting someone with a secret of yours can strengthen your relationship. You’re each saying, “I trust you with a part of myself I only share with people important to me.
- Trust is an essential part of a healthy relationship. You want to be able to share those tender parts of yourself and have confidence the other person will hold them close.
- Share your hopes and dreams. What do you want to happen in your life? What are you striving for? Share your dreams. Listen as your loved one shares his or her dreams. Ask how you can support each other. With mutual support you can strengthen relationships.
- Share your favorite books, articles and movies. Sharing what you enjoy reading and watching let’s someone know more about you in a fun and quick way. When you’re first getting to know someone, taking a look at their book shelves and reading the titles gives you an idea of his or her tastes and interests.
- Your favorite books, articles and movies can reveal more than just your interests. They can be mirrors into your soul and reveal your thoughts, expectations, and beliefs.
- Discuss your past. What events in your past have been life-changing? Opening up about things which happened in the past, whether they are poignant, funny or tragic can be a bonding experience. You share who you are and what made you the person you are.
Stay in touch. When you can’t see each other regularly, use technology for quick communication. Don’t forget “old” methods of communication such as letters and cards. Being able to hold the words of someone in your hands is a heart-filling experience.
- The key is to know what type of communication your loved one enjoys. If her heart swells when she receives a card from you in the mail and not when you send her a text saying, “ILY” even though your I Love You is heart-felt on your part, do what swells her heart and not yours… and let her know what kind of communication swells your heart.
All relationships need to be nurtured with the gift of your time and communication. When you get out of the habit of doing what nurtured your relationship in the beginning, you run the risk of your relationship growing stale or ordinary. That is not what you want. Keep your love and commitment to each other vibrant by doing fun things and sharing your heart with each other.
Here’s a question for you to consider: What does it mean if you won’t do any of the seven actions discussed in this article? What does it mean about you and your relationships? Comment below.
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