Do you remember your excitement as you and your soon to be husband or wife planned to get married? I am sure your visions were of a wonderful, happy marriage. While you may have had wonderful, happy times, reality took over.
The difficult task of making a marriage work, sometimes makes you want to give up. All relationships will have ups and downs. The following tips will help you learn how to make marriage better and get back the wonderful, happy marriage you’ve dreamed of.
1.Communicate with your spouse. Without effective communication a successful marriage is impossible. Tell your spouse what is on your mind. Don’t hold things in and silently fume. Your spouse is not a mind reader and if you don’t tell them what is wrong, they won’t know. While that seems obvious, so many people are guilty of expecting their spouse to know what they are thinking and feeling without ever sharing those thoughts and feelings.
2.Show respect for your spouse. Snide and sarcastic remarks are disrespectful.If you have a problem with your spouse, the respectful way to deal with it is by talking to them about the problem, not by making nasty remarks about it. Telling your spouse you appreciate things they do is another way of showing respect for your spouse. When was the last time you thanked your spouse for something they did. Saying thank you is quick, simple and lets your spouse know that you notice and appreciate the things they do.
3. Learn to forgive. I don’t care how good your marriage is, from time to time you will have arguments and you will disagree. Disagreements happen. The key to keeping your marriage successful even when you disagree is forgiveness. When you don’t forgive your spouse the danger of resentment is very real. Resentment soon causes bitterness which will destroy your marriage if left unchecked. You need to learn to say I am sorry and mean it.
Holding a grudge will only hurt both of you in the long run.
These things may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how often these simple things cause big problems when ignored. A successful marriage takes work. So how do you make marriage better if your relationship is not what you want it to be? Practising effective communication, appreciating and showing respect for your spouse, and learning to forgive are three tips that when put into practice will make a difference in your marriage.
