Enjoying Each Other’s Company

Many married couples today have very busy and demanding lives juggling two careers, attending to their family and managing numerous other responsibilities. Doherty (2001) suggests that couples must continually find ways to foster their connection with each other. Successful couples put connecting with each other high on their priority list.

Doherty (2001) suggests that there are at least eight areas in which you can nurture your relationship by creating ”time for us.” More specifically, these areas include:

• Times to simply check-in with each other throughout the day are very important to the health and well-being of your marriage. Examples include saying goodbye in the morning, saying “Hi” when you return home after work, going out for coffee together or finding times to catch up on the day’s events.
• Times to share your love and be intimate with each other allow you to express your affection and passion for each other. Having sex is one expression and is important for many couples. Other examples include finding times to share your personal feelings and insights, your hopes and dreams and your appreciation for each other.
• Times to celebrate special occasions include your wedding anniversary, your birthdays, Valentine’s Day, the day you met or got engaged and other important dates that hold special significance for you. These times honor those special moments that are uniquely yours.
• Times to play together can take a whole host of forms, from going to a local fair, visiting antique shops or playing golf together to sightseeing or hiking in the woods. The purpose of these times is to quite simply have fun together.
• Times to relax together at home can include putting together a puzzle, playing a board game, watching a favorite TV show or hanging out by a fire while reading or playing games on your tablets.
• Dating allows you to connect emotionally through conversation and pleasurable activities, like going out to dinner, seeing a movie, going to the community theater or taking a drive into the countryside.
• You can also nurture their relationship by getting away for weekend for rest and relaxation, for sport and rigorous activity or for exploration and adventure. Such weekends away might involve staying in a bed and breakfast, going skiing or camping in the mountains.
• Lastly, nurture your relationship by getting away for vacation by taking a cruise into the fjords of Norway, camping in a national park, renting a cabin on a lake in New Hampshire or taking a week to ski in the Rockies. Get away from your daily concerns and renew yourselves and your relationship.

How well are you putting your relationship first and finding time to enjoy each other’s company?

Reference

Doherty, W.J. (2001) Take back your marriage: Sticking together in a world that pulls us apart. New York: The Guilford Press.

Posted in Partnership Marriage