In healthy marriages, there’s one important thing that spouses consistently seek. This perspective positively impacts the tone of every interaction in their relationship. When a couple pursues this in their marriage, it can make a tremendous difference in their dynamic over the years. So what are these healthy couples doing to help keep their marriages happy and harmonious? They’re consistently looking for the good in one another. Look for the Good in One Another Couples who want to develop a healthier, more positive relationship put effort into seeking one another’s good qualities. Looking for the best qualities in your spouse…
Every couple experiences many seasons of life over the course of their marriage. All these seasons can be related to stages of life, major changes, challenges, stress, loss, abundance, and even the natural cycles that we experience throughout the year. When our marriages enter a new season, we must be able to embrace it in order to continue moving forward together in a healthy way. In this post, we’re going to share a few ways that you can embrace a new season in your marriage. Let’s read on to learn how. 1. Honor the past, but leave it behind. Often,…
Fear sabotages the best of intentions. It can infiltrate marriages and relationships, keep you from achieving your goals, and silence good people who might otherwise speak up in the face of adversity. In order to live up to your full potential, and to make your life and marriage the best they can be, then it’s essential to overcome fear. Wondering where to begin? We’ve gathered a few tips to help bolster your courage. 1. Do the right thing in spite of your fear. Oftentimes, overcoming fear means doing the right thing even when you’re afraid to. This works more easily…
The attitudes you and your spouse hold toward different circumstances will affect your marriage in a myriad of ways. Good, bad, or clashing attitudes set the stage for how you’ll work together to tackle a problem–or not. That’s why it becomes essential to give your marriage an attitude adjustment from time to time. It’s a good idea to check in on your attitudes from time to time, and from one situation to the next. The way you look at and approach challenges is largely defined by your attitude toward them. If you want to succeed as a couple, then you’ll…
Every couple experiences problems in their marriage, and those issues seem to be universally common. If you could be a fly on the wall in our office during the counseling sessions we’ve held over the years, you would hear many similar stories and scenarios repeating themselves among a host of different couples. While the individual features of each scenario are unique, many of the issues come down to the same core problems. Once the honeymoon phase of a marriage has passed, many couples are perplexed when issues and disappointments begin to take root. Building a happy, lifelong marriage takes work,…
Sooner or later, every married couple fights. However, there are some conflicts that are guaranteed to come up between spouses at some point in your relationship. In our experience, the top 5 conflicts every married couple faces are incredibly common and can cause a lot of tension in relationships when left unresolved. Wondering what those common conflicts are? Let’s dive right in. 1. Finances Money is one of the most common issues married couples fight about. Whether you’re talking about spending styles, how much is in your savings account, how much you should spend on vacations and holidays, or even…
Our families of origin have an immense impact on who we become as adults, and on our relationships. Whether friendships or romantic relationships, family imprints onto our personalities and our behavior patterns. If we aren’t able to recognize those influences and set boundaries, then our relationships could suffer. While it’s a good idea to set boundaries regarding what behaviors you will and won’t accept from family members, you also need boundaries to protect yourself from the unspoken behavior patterns you picked up from childhood. Let’s look at a few ways your family can influence you, and what to do about…
“If I could just find the right person to marry, then my life would be complete.” Does that sound familiar to you? Our society sells the idea that a marriage relationship can not only complete you as a person; it can fix your entire life. It’s a fallacy that runs deep and is woven into the fabric of our culture. By chasing the idea of wholeness through relationships, we neglect to establish a whole relationship with ourselves first. And the problem is, when we don’t learn to embrace our complete selves, we spend our lives chasing wholeness through our relationships…
Emotional safety is a critical component of any fulfilling marriage. In order for spouses to be able to be truly vulnerable, open, and honest with one another, emotional safety must exist in the relationship. If a couple does not deliberately make emotional safety a part of their relationship, it will become difficult to overcome obstacles and grow closer to one another over time. In short, emotional safety allows us to fully be ourselves, and it’s required if we want to experience all the blessings marriage has to offer. There are several factors that are needed in an emotionally safe marriage,…
Are you prepared for your first year of marriage? Living in the thick of it right now? The first year of marriage is often described as a difficult time in a couple’s life, and for many, that’s true. The good news is, there are some things you and your partner can do to pave the way toward a happy first year of marriage (and beyond). Here are three things you need to know about your first year of marriage. 1. Cultivating friendship and sacrificial love should be at the top of your priority list. Building a lasting and fulfilling marriage…