7 Tips for a Long lasting and Happy Marriage

By Dave Wills

A long lasting happy marriage isn’t an easy thing to achieve. In fact, it can be a trial and involve strife. However, there are definitely ways that are proven to work for a lot of people that you can take on board – see these seven tips.

1. Work on building trust in your marriage. It takes hard work in order to make a marriage work successfully. Try your best not to flirt or become too intimate with people outside of your marriage. If you allow this to happen, these people are often viewed as options when you are having problems with your spouse. If you have alternatives, this may give you the idea that your marriage is not worth working on. Trust is essential to a happy marriage, so try your best to work on it.
2. Show respect by focusing on your partner. Listen to what they are saying when speaking to you. Mutual respect is one of the keys to a happy union. When you pay attention to your spouse, it lets them know that you have respect for them and you care about how they are feeling. If they try talking to you while you are in the middle of an important task, explain to them that you would like to be able to pay full attention, so they should speak with you later.
3. Spend leisure time with one another. Find activities that you can do with one another and set aside time for them. Take walks, exercise or start projects together. It really does not matter what you decide to do, as long as it is enjoyable for you both. Spending quality time together will help strengthen your bond and add another layer to your relationship.
4. Learn lessons from the mistakes you make. You should know when things are appropriate and when they are not. For example, if you are a bit grumpy when you haven’t eaten, try not to interact when your spouse when you are hungry. On that same token, if you know your partner gets upset when you mention a certain person, you should not speak about them unless it is necessary. Build a happier marriage by learning from your past mistakes.
5. Be courteous to your spouse. Always say please and thank you when you are talking to them. Being polite should not be something that only occurs in a formal setting. This is a great way to honor our significant other and show them that you care. Being courteous is an excellent way to turn your marriage into a well-oiled machine. If you are able to exhibit politeness to strangers, it should be simple to do this with your spouse.
6. The phrase “I told you so” has no place in a marriage. It is probable they remember what you said, so there is no need to vocalize this. Doing so will create some tension between the two of you. Everyone makes mistakes now and then. Having someone point it out is not very helpful at all. Offering encouragement and support is essential to keeping your marriage strong, so don’t take shots at your spouse when they are already in a negative space.
7. Keeping score is not important. Marriage is not a contest, so it is not a good idea to keep tabs on your partner to make sure they are doing what they should. Instead, take into account the fact that sometimes one person has to carry more of the load. Trying to make sure that everything in your relationship is an even split will only cause more problems than it is worth. Unless your spouse is not making any effort at all, you should not focus on making sure that they do their share of the work.