The Seven Secrets You Never Knew About Healthy Relationships

1Shares

Do you think you know everything there is to know about your relationship? The truth is, there is always something new to learn about love, communication, forgiveness, and problem-solving. Marriage is what you make of it. As an example, picture your relationship like an empty box. You’re not going to be satisfied with an empty, boring box for the rest of your life, are you? Of course not! So in order to strengthen your relationship you’re going to have to put things in the box. Love, attention, and commitment are just a few things you can fill your marriage box with. A long-lasting, healthy relationship doesn’t happen overnight. It takes love, patience, and effort to make a marriage work. That’s why we’re sharing with you these seven healthy relationship tips for a better marriage.

1. Friendship Is As Important As Love

Romance is important to a happy marriage. It’s how you show your spouse you love and care for them. Little gifts tell them you’re thinking about them, and surprise kisses give much-needed affection. But romance is hardly the be all and end all of your relationships. Any marriage course would tell you that a happy marriage is cumulative of friendship, affection and giving each other space amongst other things. Yes, your marital friendship is just as important as romantic love. In fact, studies show that marital satisfaction is higher when spouses are best friends. Not only is your romantic friendship important, but so are the friendships you make outside your marriage. While it’s perfectly healthy to spend time apart pursuing your own hobbies and social circles, studies show that couples are actually happier when sharing the same group of friends. This gives them more of an opportunity to socialize as a couple while spending time together.

2. Forgiveness Is Necessary

No matter how well you get along, there will come a point in our relationship where your spouse says or does something that will hurt your feelings. One of the biggest secret healthy relationship tips is to learn to let things go and forgive your spouse. True forgiveness means forgiving and working hard to put the unpleasantness behind you as opposed to keeping the wrongdoing in your back pocket to scold your spouse with at a later date. Many view forgiveness as a weakness, but actually, it takes strength to forgive someone who has hurt you.

3. Intimacy Is More Than Just Sex

Sex naturally plays an important role in a marriage. It’s a highly personal, shared experience that allows couples to connect on an emotional and physical level. There are many benefits to an active sex life within a marriage. For example, studies show that the oxytocin released during physical intimacy boosts trust between partners. Sexual satisfaction has also been shown to increase marital satisfaction and make couples happier with their relationships. But sex isn’t the only form of intimacy couples need to be satisfied. Emotional intimacy is equally as important. Emotional intimacy is built through spending quality time together and being a trustworthy and loyal partner.

4. Healthy Couples Argue

Having an argument probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think about healthy relationship tips, but the truth is that even the happiest couples will argue every once in a while. Getting your grievances out in the open is an important part of having a happy, healthy relationship. Healthy arguing does not mean:

Insulting your partner
Dredging up past hurt in order to prove a point
Nitpicking or being overly critical
Saying purposely hurtful things
Fighting with only the intention of winning in mind
Healthy arguing means using disagreements as an opportunity to solve a problem together as partners, not letting it be a catalyst for taking shots at each other.

5. Communication Is Multi-Faceted

One of the biggest relationship tips that have lasted for decades is the importance of keeping open communication in your marriage. You and your spouse must be able to speak to each other freely in order to have a successful relationship.
But one thing that is not talked about it how multi-faceted the concept of communication is.

Speaking your mind

You must be able to convey your thoughts and feelings as partners. This is how you will avoid misunderstandings, show appreciation and gratitude for your spouse, and prevent resentment from growing.

Listening

This is another essential facet of communication. In order to properly communicate, you need to learn to listen without interruption. Give your partner a fair chance to have their say and show. Listening also shows your partner respect.

Problem-solving

Communication is how couples learn more about each other, it’s how they talk about good things in their lives, but it’s also how they discuss problems. This makes problem-solving a key component of communicating together.

6. Successful Couples are Committed

The research was done on what makes a lasting marriage found that couples often had the same answer for what was important to them. These qualities are as follows: agreeing on aims and goals, treating your spouse like your best friend and more specifically, viewing marriage as a sacred institution. Yes, happy couples understand that commitment is a huge part of what makes a marriage successful. Committed couples are loyal to one another. They do not seek emotional or physical attachments outside of their marriage. They also show respect to one another, never badmouthing one another to friends or family. Interestingly, research suggests that the oxytocin released during sex and other forms of physical touch has actually been shown to heighten monogamy in men.

7. Setting Goals is Key

One of the biggest healthy relationship tips for couples is to keep looking forward together. One way you can do this is by setting reachable and realistic goals, such as:

To always communicate openly and honestly together
Giving back to the community
Having a regular date night each week
Buying a house
Save money for your dream vacation
Owning a pet
Planning vacations
Getting fit together
Starting a family

These are great starting points to ensure that you and your spouse grow together and not apart. If you want a great marriage you need to pay special attention to your marital friendship. Communication, forgiveness, healthy conflict, and commitment are also key factors in a happy relationship. By following these healthy relationship tips, you’ll be on your way to a long-lasting, satisfying marriage for years to come.

About
Latest Posts

Rachael Pace

Rachael Pace is a relationship expert with years of experience in training and helping couples. She has helped countless individuals and organizations around the world, offering effective and efficient solutions for healthy and successful relationships. She is a featured writer for Marriage.com, a reliable resource to support healthy happy marriages.