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Jul 30, 2021 · Relationships. 10 Ways to Keep a Relationship Going Strong. Getting the love you want by practicing mindfulness and respect. Posted July 30, 2021 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan. Key points. A...
- Overview
- When there’s been a breach of trust
- When you’re in a long-distance relationship
- When you live together
- When you’ve just had a big fight
- When you just aren’t feeling it
- Frequently asked questions
- The bottom line
Many relationships lose their spark over time, but it isn’t always a sign that things are broken beyond repair. What might feel like a dying relationship can often be saved or restored with a mutual commitment to making things work.
You’ve heard it a million times, but it bears repeating: even the strongest relationships face challenges.
Building a happy, healthy partnership takes work and may not always be easy, especially when there’s been a breach of trust.
“Issues are a part of life and a part of being in a relationship,” says clinical psychologist Stone Kraushaar. “And the goal is to not fixate on the past, but work to create together in a meaningful way.”
Take full responsibility if you’re at fault
If there has been infidelity or trust has been broken, it’s important to take full responsibility for what happened and be understanding of how your behavior hurt your partner. Avoid becoming defensive or sidestepping your mistake, but don’t fall into self-loathing either. “You should own it in a loving way that creates the space to start to rebuild trust,” says Kraushaar.
Extend compassion and care to the person you hurt
If you’ve hurt your partner, it’s easy to fall into a spiral of shame and disappointment in yourself. But that’s not going to help either of you. Rather than spend all your time beating yourself up over what you did wrong, try shifting that energy toward showing care and compassion to your partner.
Give your partner the opportunity to win your trust back
While you have every right to feel hurt and angry, there should be a desire to work on the relationship. “Trust can never be restored until the person whose trust was broken allows their partner a chance to earn it back,” Kraushaar affirms.
Manage expectations
Have a discussion with your partner about your exclusiveness and commitment to each other. What does this look like for each of you? What are you comfortable and uncomfortable with? Being honest and upfront about your expectations from the beginning can prevent things from going wrong down the road.
Have regularly scheduled visits
“It’s so important that couples know and have scheduled visits and can look forward to those times and plan to make them special,” notes Kraushaar. In fact, research has shown that long-distance relationships where partners have a reunion planned are less stressful and more satisfying.
Set aside time for online dates
If you’re not able to organize scheduled time together due to significant distance or finances, Kraushaar recommends setting up regular online dates with a theme or specific focus. Don’t just go for your usual conversation topics. Cook a meal together, watch a movie while you keep the video chat open, play a virtual game, or even read a short story aloud, taking turns.
Plan a regular ‘check in’
Kraushaar recommends setting up a specific time each week or so that allows you to talk about more difficult topics, such as money, sex, and trust so that these don’t bleed over into all of your interactions.
Learn to compromise
All relationships require give and take. When you’re living in close quarters, being accommodating of their needs and preferences without sacrificing your own can help foster more happiness and fulfillment. Consider working out some kind of temporary agreement that allows each of you to unwind at home alone. For example, maybe you stay a little later the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while they hang out with a friend on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Spend time with friends outside of your relationship
Spending time with friends can have a powerful effect on your personal mental health and can help strengthen your personal identity. Remember, staying connected to your partner means having a life outside of your relationship.
Use skilled communication
Once tempers have calmed down, it’s important to make sure you each have a chance to get your points across. Try to give each person space to communicate their point of view. “Being open and honest about one’s thoughts and intentions about the relationship itself and the future can restore — or newly create — a sense of safety” in the relationship, says Montreal psychologist and relationship specialist Zofia Czajkowska, PhD.
Speak from your heart
In order for you partner to truly hear you, it’s important to communicate what you’re really feeling below all the tension. For example, avoid accusatory phrases, such as, “You did this to me!” Instead, aim for something along the lines of, “When X happens I feel Y and I think it would be helpful if you could do Z to reassure me or prevent that from happening in the future.”
Actively listen
If you catch yourself forming a rebuttal in your head as someone is talking to you, you’re not really listening. “You’re getting ready to defend yourself or go to battle,” says Czajkowska. “Winning” an argument is never truly winning, she adds. “If your partner feels that they lost, it will likely contribute to more distance, tension, and resentment, so in the long run, you lose too.”
Look at the upside of your relationship
Spend a week noticing or writing down all the things your partner does “right.” People tend to see what they’re looking for. If you’re looking for reasons to be mad or upset with your partner, you’ll probably find them. But this works in reverse, too. Keep your eyes peeled for the good things.
Say ‘thank you’ for the small things
Similarly, don’t just silently observe your partner’s right-doings. When they do something that’s kind of helpful, even if it’s just tidying up the kitchen after a meal, verbally thank them.
Have fun together
Sometimes, you just fall into a rut. It might sound cliche, but setting aside some time, even just a few hours, to go do something out of the ordinary can make a big difference. Psychological research shows that partners who play together experience more positive emotions and report greater happiness. Here are a few ideas to get you started: •Take a one-time class together. •Grab a deck of cards or a board game you each used to love and head to the park. •Scan your local weekly paper for unusual events. Even if you’re not totally sure what the event entails, make a plant to go check it out together, whether it’s a craft fair or a car show.
How do you save a broken relationship?
How you save a damaged relationship can depend on the cause of the damage but most strategies involve restoring trust, intimacy, and communication and making a commitment to repairing the relationship. Consulting with a professional, such as a couples therapist, may help provide specific strategies you can try.
Is there a way to save a dying relationship?
You may be able to save a dying relationship if you and your partner commit to rebuilding it. Some strategies to try include active listening, compromise, honesty, and communication. More specific advice can depend on the reasons your relationship is damaged.
How do you bring a relationship back to life?
You can potentially restore a relationship by both partners making a commitment to noticing the things the other does right, having fun together, and finding ways to take care of each other emotionally by building intimacy.
Ultimately, you’ll need to evaluate whether the relationship is worth the work that’s required to save it from a low point.
It’s also wise to make sure everyone involved is committed to saving the relationship. If you’re the only one willing to put in the work, reconciliation probably isn’t likely.
That said, abuse of any kind, whether it’s physical, verbal, or emotional, is a red flag. Keep in mind that signs of toxicity can be quite subtle. Are you walking on eggshells around your partner? Have you lost your confidence or sense of self?
If you have any inkling that you might be experiencing abuse of any kind, consider reaching out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233).
You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by sending a text message to:
•741741 in the United States
Aug 3, 2020 · To salvage a relationship, it’s important to take stock of what your issues are, what brought you to a point where you feel like things just aren’t working out, and what you can do to change the course of your journey as a couple.
- Spend Quality Time Together. Spending quality time with your partner is an important way to boost the passion you both share. No matter how busy you are, set aside a few minutes each day to focus on yourselves.
- Always Communicate Your Thoughts And Feelings. Communication is one of the most essentials in life, holding a huge connection to growth and progress. If you are seeking help on how to keep a relationship stronger, start by reviewing your levels of communication.
- Recognize The Inevitability Of Ups And Downs. You must recognize that a relationship is a journey and that in every journey, there is a distinct possibility of encountering bumps along the way.
- Avoid Focusing On Trivial Issues. If you are wondering how to keep a relationship alive, how to keep a relationship fresh, or how to keep a relationship forever, identifying potential stressors or relationship blockers might be the first step.
Sep 4, 2019 · How to Keep a Relationship Alive. Relationships become more and more difficult to maintain over time, but below you’ll find 8 ways to keep the fire burning in your relationship. 1. Reduce Screen Time. A recent study has found that the average person spends 5 hours a day looking at their phone.
Jun 14, 2023 · To keep your love alive, one thing you can do is reciprocate what your partner does for you every day instead of only during the time they need you. Keeping the love alive and maintaining a great marriage needs dedication, work, and creativity.
3 days ago · Enter: the 2-2-2-rule. “The 2-2-2 rule refers to a method for couples to keep their relationship a priority when life gets in the way,” explains Gabriela Reyes, LMFT, and resident relationship expert for Match Group’s Chispa. “The idea is that you go on a date every 2 weeks, spend a weekend away together every 2 months, and take a week ...
