Many say that falling in love is easy. After all, it doesn’t take much effort to start loving someone, especially when it just happened unexpectedly and out of plan. Instead, the challenge is to stay in love and keep the relationship growing for the better. A well-nurtured relationship is guaranteed to last through the good and bad times. Meanwhile, a relationship that lacks the attention and commitment of one or both parties will eventually fall apart in the long run.
What Does Nurturing Your Romantic Relationship Mean?
Nurturing a relationship means the two people involved should pay attention, make efforts, and stay committed to flourishing their love. As beautiful as to love and to be loved may sound, maintaining a relationship requires ongoing hard work. Unfortunately, many couples tend to forget that relationships aren’t always about the good times or those butterflies in your stomach. And so, whenever they’re faced with issues, one or both may let go and choose to split for good.
But the thing is, the issues and misunderstandings in your relationship will always be part of the story. The relationship is tested and gets even more solid during the hard times. With a well-nurtured relationship, you can ensure that both parties have a healthy and happy relationship and surpass any challenges.
How Can You Nurture A Better Relationship With Your Partner?
No two relationships are the same, as each is unique in its own way. But still, there are a few things you can do together to help nurture your relationship and make both of you better partners for each other. Here are seven tips and advice that may help create a healthier and better relationship with your partner.
1. Communicate Effectively
It’s no surprise that effective communication is crucial in nurturing a relationship. However, some couples, especially long-term ones, may start to forget proper communication. When they get used to seeing and being with each other, they might forget about asking their partners how their day was or leave their arguments unresolved for several days. As a result, it would be more challenging to know what they think or feel.
To practice effective communication, make it a habit to check in with your partner, ask each other how your day was, and listen attentively. If communication is difficult, you may wish to consider using products from somewhere like True Pheromones, to aid communication, increase confidence, and boost the attraction between you as a couple. It is known that human beings communicate with each other with pheromones, so this could be just what you need.
Listen to how they talk about their good or horrible day at work or other problems. If you're the one talking, be open and honest with what you're talking about. If you'd like to talk about finances, careers, or any proposed changes in your relationship, sit down with your partner and discuss it.
Better yet, you can also go for couple counseling. Attending counseling doesn’t necessarily mean that couples are experiencing issues in their relationship. Couples counseling is also an excellent way to nurture your relationship, improve your communication as a couple, and develop positive habits in the relationship. So, you can visit High Country Behavioral Health service or other counseling services within your area and schedule couples counseling.
Effective communication will foster better intimacy and enhance the couple’s mindfulness in their relationship. Most importantly, this will make it easier for you and your partner to resolve problems and issues in the future.
2. Be Intentional With Your Partner
Practicing intentionality is another way for couples to nurture their relationship. Intentionality means you consciously do actions or purposely plan activities that will help build intimacy and improve your relationship. Some examples to help you practice intentionality to your partner are:
- Organizing regular dates
- Going on a vacation
- Giving surprises
- Making quality time
- Trying new hobbies together
Being intentional doesn’t necessarily mean having perfect date nights or luxurious vacations. Instead, it’s more on the thought that counts. When couples are mutually intentional with the relationship, it’ll show how both are willing to prioritize their relationship. So, be intentional with your partner and have grace for each other.
3. Appreciate Your Partner’s Efforts
Underappreciating your partner, even at the tiniest effort, will make them feel undervalued. Thus, some of them may take time off from the relationship or let the relationship go for good. That’s why appreciation and gratitude are crucial in nurturing the relationship. It doesn’t matter if they’re making grand or small gestures. Instead, it’s all about the intention behind their efforts.
So, whatever kind of effort your partner makes, make it a habit to thank them for it or do something in return as your way of showing appreciation. You can buy them flowers, cook their favorite dish, or write ‘thank you’ notes to show appreciation and value their contribution to the relationship.
4. Forgive
Have you noticed in movies or real-life documentaries that some couples bring up their past conflicts whenever they’re fighting over a present problem? That’s because neither party has forgiven each other for those past issues. As a result, these past problems will be repeatedly discussed and brought up from time to time when they get a chance. Unfortunately, by doing so, you’re preventing your relationship from nurturing or growing for the better.
To successfully nurture your relationship, both people should learn to forgive and stop holding on to grudges. If practicing forgiveness is something you both struggle with, you can consult a psychologist and try a guided forgiveness meditation session together. Remember, forgiveness is a crucial part of resolving conflicts.
5. Provide Emotional Support
Another way to nurture your relationship is by providing emotional support. Doing this will ensure your partner won’t feel alone in the relationship and that they can count on you on anything. So, display your emotional support by listening to their problems attentively, asking how their day was, offering compliments, or being there for them at the special events of their life. These activities will show them that you’ll always be there, loving and looking out for them.
6. Take Responsibility
If you encounter problems in your relationship, avoid blaming everything on your partner. Instead, look at the situation, determine where you did wrong, and take responsibility for it. Giving excuses or playing the blame game won’t nurture your relationship in any way and could even hurt your partner in the process. Remember that if there are any problems, it should be both of you against the problem. So, learn to take responsibility and work on resolving the matter together.
7. Do Acts Of Service
Out of the five love languages, acts of service may often be underestimated. But doing acts of service is one way to show your love and care for your partner and help nurture the relationship. Keep in mind that each has different ways of showing and receiving love. Thus, make sure you know what your partner loves and hates so you’ll have a clear idea of which acts will make them happy and, hopefully, make your relationship better.
Here are some acts of service to help nurture your relationship:
- Making them a cup of coffee in the morning
- Taking the kids out so your spouse can have some time for themselves
- Surprising them on a random day
These acts of service can make both of you happy and nurture the relationship for the better.
Key Takeaway
When nurturing a relationship, both parties must do their part and work out every problem they face. After all, a happy and healthy relationship requires hard work, commitment, dedication, and genuine feelings for each other.
