Did you know investing in love ends up strengthening your marriage?
Have you figured out what all successful couples have in common? They are all investing in love! While it may sound more cliche than some may want to hear, investing in love is what you should be doing to make sure your marriage is successful at any age.
After you have married, you should make sure that you do not end up falling into the rut of things and forgetting that your partnership is extremely important and that you have started a family together. Indeed, life can get hectic, yet you should never forget that you should spend time with and give attention to your partner.
This is how you end up investing in love and, thus, in your partner, making sure your marriage stays strong and that you two have a healthy partnership. Sometimes it is easier said than done, and at times we may forget that we need to keep the connection alive with our spouses, which in turn can lead to the relationship deteriorating.
Despite this, know that you can work towards strengthening this connection and making sure it stays extremely powerful! We have gathered some of the best ways in which you can make sure that your relationship is strong and that your marriage will thrive, no matter when you feel like something is not going well!
Have you experienced any issues in your marriage? Do you feel like there are things that could be improved? Let us know what you think in the comments!
1. Never say no to cuddles.
You should never question whether or not physical touch is a good sign of affection. It is important in a relationship to stay in contact emotionally and physically. This is why you should make sure you do not neglect the act of holding each other.
Not only will you two be spending more time together, but you will also be showing each other that you not only like their presence but also crave their company and seek them out. Such a simple act as cuddling is how you show your spouse that you love them and that you are loving and affectionate with them.
What’s more, you do not have to only be cuddling. You can be holding each other while you watch a TV show you enjoy or a movie; you can even fall asleep together. Cuddling is an easy way to maintain a strong connection and ensure your spouse knows they are loved.
2. Make sure you do not skip on physical intimacy.
Yes, physical intimacy is important. Especially if you used to be intimate in such a way and you have both stopped paying attention to it. Believe it or not, the intimate physical aspect of your relationship is part of investing in love and making your marriage more successful.
If you find that, over the years, you no longer have intimate connections, you should bring it up with your partner. It can be that your drive has changed or that one of you no longer feels the drive, but maybe both of you have thought the other is no longer interested and assumed wrongly.
Being open to discussing and scheduling physical intimacy may be the way through which you go through this hurdle. If you enjoy this aspect of your relationship and want to revive it, discuss it with your partner, and you may find that they are on the same page as you.
3. Communicate with your spouse.
Speaking of communication, you should always strive to have an open and honest marriage. This means that you strive to always communicate with your spouse and that you should not just assume what they think about you or other things, especially when you are confused about a topic.
It also involves the act of actively listening when you are talking about things. If you or your partner have initiated a conversation, you should not half-listen and use your phone, then nod and say “Yes, honey.” Let’s be honest, that is not listening or communicating, and it makes your spouse feel horrible as you are not truly listening.
Instead, you should be investing in love and your marriage by listening and talking about your feelings with your spouse. See if you are on the same page about things, and work through all the things you want to do together. We guarantee that being open and talking is always going to be better than just assuming what the other party thinks.
Communication may just be what your relationship was missing! Make sure you do not let your marriage fall because you do not communicate enough. This Couples Therapy Workbook has helped my spouse and I reconnect when we needed it most, and you can easily find it on Amazon!
4. Make sure you never prioritize your hobby over your spouse.
You (or your spouse) may have a hobby that you are super invested in, so much so that you end up neglecting your connection with your partner. This does not mean that you should stop doing your hobby, as we all need those, but that if you only focus on it and, as a result, end up neglecting your marriage, then you should start to evaluate your relationship with this hobby.
All of us have hobbies, but we should not focus all of our energy on them. It is important to help us relax, be creative, or just stay active, but when the hobby takes the forefront of your life, you are going to be neglecting your spouse, which in turn will cause tension in your marriage.
You should be investing in love just as much as you are investing in your hobby. After all, love is something that you need to nurture and support, and it is not something you should take for granted. And when you blow off a night with your spouse for yet another class or activity related to your hobby, you are easily alienating your partner and making them feel useless.
No one is saying that you should give up on your hobby, but rather that you should not treat it as more important than your marriage. Because if you reach that stage, your spouse can tell, and with time, it can build up into resentment.
5. Do not be negligent with intimacy.
We have already talked about physical intimacy, but we should also touch on the general notion of intimacy as well. This means that while the physical aspect is of its own importance, other things make up intimacy in a marriage, and you should never end up neglecting them either.
Intimacy between partners can look like private conversations just between the two of you, sharing secrets with one another, making sure you have enough trust between the two of you that there are things only the two of you know, handholding, and quality time spent together.
These are just some examples of how intimacy can be built up between the two of you, and if you feel like you have lost this part of yourself, maybe it is time to start investing in love again!
If you are not sure how you can jumpstart this aspect of your marriage, you can always look up some books on intimacy and take it from there!
6. Schedule and stick to date night.
One way you can show that you are investing in love and that you can keep the spark of your marriage lit is to schedule and stick to date nights! You should always make time for the two of you and organize something so that you spend the time without work, worries, or other things on your mind.
Date nights are important to maintain relationships, and they are not to be skipped, no matter your age. Be it going to a restaurant, exploring the city, going to a museum or gallery, or starting at home and cooking together a new recipe, date nights can take many forms, and you can customize them to fit your marriage.
Schedule them much like you would an appointment so that you do not forget, and sooner or later you will start seeing that they become part of your routine, something that you love and that you are looking forward to. It is one of the best ways to strengthen your marriage, and we stand by it!
If you are thinking that you need to strengthen your marriage through these steps into investing in love, make sure that your relationship issues aren’t a sign that something is going truly wrong. If you are curious about the subtle signs showing that your relationship is in deep trouble, read our article on the topic!
