What Happily Married Couples Do

Recently I read an article in a Church publication called "What Happily Married Couples Do: Ten ideas for enriching your marital relationship". (Click on the link if you want to read the entire thing.) It has ideas that can help every married couple to improve their relationships.

1. Have positive conversations. I think this is a part of any healthy relationship.
2. Show affection. Everyone needs to be touched.
3. Remember that you are each other's therapists. You are the one that knows more back story than anyone else.
4. Be humble and cultivate Christ-like attributes. Christ knows that your spouse is a person of worth with great potential, talents and someone who was worth sacrificing for. Something to consider.
5. Date frequently. Something that is often hard with small children, but so important!
6. Enrich your intimacy. This made me smile. What a delicate way of saying, 'Make sure you and your spouse get it on.'
7. Spend time with children and grandchildren. Family is a mutual interest and inherently part of your relationship.
8. Seek feedback and help each other. It's important to communicate and work together.
9. Eliminate anger. How can you be happy when you are angry?
10. Be sensitive to each other's stress levels. Ditto to my comment about #1.

I think that this is pretty sound advice. I don't think these ideas will solve all domestic discord, but I can see them making things better for a lot of people. If you value your relationship with your spouse, you have take actions to maintain and improve it. Happy marriages don't happen by accident or by magic. They require thought and effort. And you don't have to do all of these ideas at once, try focusing on one each month. Hopefully they will bring smiles to the face of you and your spouse.