Marriage Tips

Achieving Intimacy

Achieving is a demanding activity and as such should require our greatest efforts. Below is a short list of what you can do to achieve deeper intimacy in your relationships.

1) Expect to get close to each other
2) Serve one another
3) Avoid hurting each other in any way
4) Be honest with each other
5) Make yourself the best person you can so that your spouse will want to be with you
6) Be the last person to give up on your marriage (unless you are being abused or hurt by your spouse)
7) Be positive
8) Compliment your spouse
9) Read this list on a regular basis and make a game plan of how you can do everything on this list.
10) Evaluate the outcome of doing these things in your marriage.

The Greatest Gift

While most of us spend lots of money during the holidays and on our anniversaries(Christmas, Valentines Day), seldom do we consider what gift would really make a difference in our marriage. My suggestion is to give ourselves. How?

1) Show love in ways your spouse needs you to
2) Be happy
3) Give without expectation of return
4) Find ways to make your spouse feel special

Remember the greatest gift you give will always take time and will include love.

Being The Right Person

A wise man once said, "Marriage is not so much finding the right person as it is being the right person." If everyone would take this saying and make it a part of their life we would have better marriages and a better society.

5 Things To Be Grateful For

One way to show appreciation to your spouse is to take time and list 5 things that they do that you really appreciate. Here is my list of 5 things that I am grateful to my wife for.

1) She works hard to be a great spouse.
2) She is patient with our children.
3) She has a happy disposition.
4) She makes sacrifices to make our family work.
5) She gives of her time unselfishly.

What does your spouse do that you really appreciate? Make your list and give it to him/her for Thanksgiving, your anniversary, or another special day in your lives. One way to change our marriages is to show more appreciation to each other.

1 of 10 Ways to Survive: Maintain Work Boundaries

In the October 2001 issue of Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy an article was published on balancing work and family. Ten ideas were given on how to create a healthy balance. The fourth strategy was to maintain work boundaries.

Maintaining work boundaries is critical. Couples' sense of family as the highest priority in their lives was critical in decisions about the level of effort to expend at work and what job would best support this priority. Many couples made a commitment to maintain control over work, not allowing their careers to dictate the pace of their everyday lives.