How To Have And Maintain A Healthy Relationship
© Susan Preston, http://flirtingwithfitness.com
All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
We go to relationships to give and share. It is so exciting in the beginning, then all of a sudden that giving and sharing has been compromised. Now it seems that one or even both of you have become needy and are now taking instead of giving.
It is not that either one of you mean to do that, but when we don’t take the time to fill ourselves up consistently with love, honor, trust, self-esteem, respect, worthiness, joy and happiness, etc. that is what usually happens. You see if we aren’t doing this, then eventually we will start feeling drained and empty. That is where the neediness and being a taker comes in. It is only human nature.
Building a relationship with a partner that resonates well with you is exciting and
life-enhancing as the two of you look forward to a happy life together. You might
even discuss hopes and dreams for the future. So how do you ensure that you get to
keep this wonderful experience you’re building together?
Tips On How To Have And Maintain A Healthy Relationship:
Communication Skills:
Healthy relationships exhibit excellent communication skills. It is so vital that you each listen to one another attentively. By doing so, you will both feel in that very moment that you are a priority in each others lives instead of an option. Look at one another and give eye contact during your conversations. Let your partner talk while you listen and they should do the same for you. It is so important to take turns talking and listening.
Enjoy Life:
Find things that you both enjoy doing together! It is so important to enjoy life together. Bring laughter and lots of smiles into your relationship. Do things that make each others lives easier so that you can have more time to spend having fun together.
Watch a funny movie together and snuggle on the couch while you are watching it. Make it a date night. The more that you can enjoy each other and your life together, the easier it will be when you are faced with a challenging time.
Show Affection To Each Other:
Get comfortable showing your love with one another. You might slip your
hand into your partner’s hand spontaneously when you are taking a walk.
At a party, chat with others together or “separate” briefly to take part in conversations with others. But eventually, gravitate back to your partner to see how they are doing. Maybe touch them on the back so that they know you are there.
Give hugs often, especially when one of you leaves the house or returns home. By showing your affection to each other, your intimacy will grow even more so. It’s not all about what happens in the bedroom, it is the day to day affection that keeps the passion going.
Disagree In A Respectful Way:
Never yell at each other, but rather use a moderated voice volume and tone. In a
relationship, there’s bound to be an occasional disagreement or misunderstanding. How these are handled makes all the difference. It is okay to disagree, but it is how you do it that really matters. Learn to compromise.
Apologize:
When necessary, if one partner did something to upset the other one, it is necessary that they apologize. In a healthy relationship, partners are honest with themselves and each other regarding mistakes they make.
By apologizing you are admitting that you were wrong and that helps to demonstrates to your partner that they are a significant part of your life and that their feelings do mean something to you.
Respect:
It is so important show genuine respect for one another. By doing so, it sends out a very powerful ongoing messages to one another of “I cherish you” and “You are special to me.”
Trust:
People in healthy relationships put forth a lot of effort to figure out this process and, ultimately, earn and give trust. It does take time to earn someone’s trust so if your relationship is just starting out don’t force it either way but just let it naturally happen. It is so vital not to lose your partner’s trust as it is hard to get it back and in some cases you might not be able to and thus the relationship will eventually end.
Stay In Tune With Each Other:
It is so important to consistently stay in tune with each other. Let them know how much they mean to you and just how much you appreciate them! If your partner says or does something to upset you and you can’t ask them right then and there as to what they meant, attach 2 or 3 positive things that it could be. Don’t assume but rather when you get a chance, ask them about it in a calm and loving way. You will probably find that it wasn’t about you at all but rather a challenge that they might have been dealing with internally.
Have A Shared Social Life:
Make it a point to go out and have fun as a couple with friends that you both resonate with. Family events are fun and great, as well. It is also important to have dates just the two of you, as it solidifies the partnership and helps you to stay intimately connected. It is a good thing to go out with your friends individually at times, as well.
Independence:
It is so important that you and your partner have a solid sense of independence and a strong sense of who you are. By doing this, neither one of you will become needy and a taker. Even though you have each other, each of you needs to understand that you are still an individual and that you need to be your own support system. This way, whatever support that you give to each other will only enhance what you both have already given to yourselves.
If you are expecting your partner to fill your every need that you have, you will most likely be disappointed and vice versa. We have to give to ourselves not only what we want to give, but what we are wanting to receive.
I hope that these tips will help you to develop a healthy, long-lasting relationship. As you can see, building and maintaining a healthy relationship takes ongoing work, but the
effort will pay off by bringing you many joys. I would love to connect with you on my Facebook Fan Page where I give tips on how to grow not only yourself but your relationships and business: Susan Can Help Me Today. You deserve to have the everything that you truly desire! Remember, you are Amazing! I am rooting for you!
Is your mindset keeping you from growing your business? If you would like more help with this or if you are having challenges in any of your relationships, Susan would love to help. Click on 
I know communication has been an area I’ve struggled with in the past, but if you just push yourself a little, you’ll see that it makes a world of difference!
You are absolutely correct, James it does make a world of difference. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Have a great weekend
Great post Susan! So True!
Ellen recently posted..Efficient Tips on How to Network
Thanks, Ellen. I appreciate you. I am so glad that you enjoyed your vacation. It sounds like it was Amazing!
Great tips for building solid relationships, Susan. Tying it all together is the statement you made that is very true…”building and maintaining a healthy relationship takes ongoing work”.
Carla J Gardiner recently posted..New Me New Life New Adventures!
Thank you, Carla! It does take ongoing work building and maintaining a healthy relationship, I think a lot of people feel that when they are officially a couple that they have met a goal. They may have but in order to grow that relationship continually it is something that must be worked at consistently.
Great post, as always, Susan! Yes, communication is key! I am not in a relationship at the moment and don’t know if I ever will be….perhaps, one day! Your articles are filled with priceless information that can help everyone improve their relationship. God bless you for all you do! Thank you!
Alexandra McAllister recently posted..Can One Truly Find A Drunk’s Stupidity Funny?
Yes, communication is definitely the key in any of the relationships that we have. I appreciate you, sweetie! Thanks
I always say the glue that’s held our 33 year marriage together is humor. Plain and simple, we are able to laugh together. It’s made all the difference!
Martha Giffen recently posted..What Social Media Engagement Really Means
I totally agree with you, Martha…it is so important to be able to laugh together and it certainly does make all the difference in the world. It sounds like you have an Amazing marriage. Thanks
Some great advice here Susan! I’m glad you highlight trust because for me that’s such a key element of any relationship. I find that once trust is in place then it’s so much easier to do all the other things. On the other hand if there’s a mistrust it makes communication, staying in tune, respect and so on so much harder.
Carolyn Hughes recently posted..Abundant love. Abundant life.
Thanks, Carolyn! I absolutely agree with you, trust us such a key element! I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Love reading your posts and all of the information you always share . There is so much to be learned about relationships and how to make them real and true not only for ourselves but the other person. You can never just allow them to exist. You have to do the work to build them and make them thrive
So very true, Terressa! It is sad because a lot of relationships are just surviving instead of thriving. Thank you, so much
These are excellent tips Susan! Communication in a respectful way is so important to a healthy relationship. It’s not always been easy for me – but I’m real glad to say I’ve worked it through :).
Moira Hutchison recently posted..How to Manifest the Best Life
Thanks, Moira! Yes, I totally agree. Congrats, that is a huge success and I am betting that your relationship is so much more enriched because of it 😉
Great tips, Susan, on how to have and maintain a healthy relationship. That sense of independence is so important to relationships and I am glad that you brought it up! Often, in our society, we are taught to “merge” and give up our independence instead of keeping it. Right on, Susan!
Sherie recently posted..The Power of Perspective (or it’s All in the Way You Look at it)
Thanks, Sherie! Yes, I so agree and it is when both people in a relationship are independent that I believe that they grow even more so individually and as a couple 😉
Loved it, Susan. It requires an effort and work to maintain and be in a healthy relationship. You gave here brilliant advice. Especially this one resonated with me the most: “if you are expecting your partner to fill your every need that you have, you will most likely be disappointed.” So many people have unrealistic expectations from a partner and then feel miserable and unhappy in a relationship.
Solvita recently posted..2 Top Reasons to STOP the Gossip and Have Inner Peace
Thank you, Solvita. You are so right when you wrote, “So many people have unrealistic expectations from a partner and then feel miserable and unhappy in a relationship.” It is when we fill ourselves up with everything that we need and not expect our partner to fill us up, then we are able to give and share at a much deeper level with them.
The disagree in a respectful way is so important. Very important to do this in front of your children. Let them see you disagree and debate with a respectful way will tell them such an important life skill that they can carry in all their relationships.
Barbara Peters recently posted..The relationship of the future: what we pass on to our children.
Yes, I sooooooo agree with you Barbara! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment
I have a great relationship with my husband; we love to do fun things together. It hasn’t been that way all the time, but we fought for it and came out on the other side together. I love your tips; it is so vital to stay in tune with each other. Thanks Susan!
You’re so welcome, Olga! I am so happy to hear that you and your husband came out on the other side, so many couples don’t. Thank you
Great recipe here, Susan! I torched my first marriage by leaving out too many ingredients, which is where the bitterness began to creep in. I was a workaholic who stopped listening. Although I felt I was still very generous with notes and backrubs and ‘little things’, the communication stopped for the important things.
Thanks, Steve. Yes, as you and so many of us have learned communication is the key. Just think how Amazing your relationship with Tina is because you learned those lessons and applied them.
These are such powerful tips, Susan. I think it’s so important to listen attentively for sure. Too often our minds wonder and this can lead to miscommunication. listenting with good eye contact is being truly respectful to your partner.
Lisa Birnesser recently posted..Stress and Job Security: How to Deal with a Job Loss-Part One
You’re welcome, Lisa! I agree. I think too that when we listen to someone attentively that they feel that they are a priority in our life rather then as an option. That helps to grow the relationship even more so. Thanks
Definitely need those fundamentals. It’s sad so many people seem to fail at these though especially when the going gets tough
Jamie recently posted..Things I learned from my CATS!
Absolutely, Jamie. I agree with you totally. Thanks
Some days I may need to stamp that list on my forehead
thx for the tips!
I think we all need these reminders at times, Catherine! Thank you, I appreciate you
Oh, thank you so much for these! I ran downstairs to tell my bon vivant how much I love and appreciate him. Luckily, we’re pretty good at all of these, but we need reminders! Life gets so busy that we can forget to tell those we love that we think they are grand!
Nancy Tierney recently posted..Is Your Comfort Zone Cramping More Than Your Style?
I just love it! I am sure that he was very happy when you did that! Yes, we all need reminders at times. Thanks! Have an Amazing weekend
Great post. These are all important parts of a strong relationship. I’m sure there is at least one or two areas here where I could be doing better. Thanks for the reminder.
Marie Leslie recently posted..Think Before You Post: Avoiding the TMI Trap
You’re welcome, Marie. I think there are a tleast one or two areas where we all could do better 😉 Thanks! Have a wonderful weekend!
What a marvelous list of key elements to a good relationship, Susan. There are a couple that it was good for me to be tweaked about!
Sharon O’Day recently posted..Financial Reality Check: The Women Around Me
Thanks, Sharon! I am glad that they helped