We all know that relationships are not as easy as Hollywood makes them out to be. Anyone who has ever been in a relationship knows that highs and lows are perfectly normal and to be expected. Even when two people truly care for one another they will have to work exceptionally hard for their relationship to thrive.
No matter how much attraction there is, you will have to overcome moments of frustration, anger, and a whole lot of other issues as well. It could be said that what helps couples to overcome all the difficulty is the love that they have built for one another, but even that love can waver in the face of certain situations. So how can you really make it last?
A few strategies to keep your love going strong
One of the strategies that often comes up with people who focus on helping others with relationships is a strategy of focusing on creating far more positive experiences than negative ones in a relationship to make it work. For example, a marriage counselor might tell you that you have to work hard to make sure that for every bad experience that you and your partner go through is matched by 5 good ones. Of course, both people involved have to agree that that is the right ratio because you and your partner might disagree on whether a certain experience was actually good or bad.
Other possible strategies
If you have been trying hard to make the love in your relationship last, you have probably come across other strategies and might have even put a few to the test. Here are a few other things you might want to try:
Prioritize your relationship
If you happen to be a hard worker because you care about positive results, you already know that working hard towards a goal works if you put everything into it. You have to start prioritizing your relationship in the same way. Think about all the other things that you devote time to instead of your relationship; now stop doing that and put your relationship first!
Make your love smile
As any couples therapist will assert, making your partner smile is very important; in fact, you have to do this on a daily basis to keep the relationship healthy. If you know your partner well enough (and you should), you will know what he or she likes you to do for them. For example, why not lend a hand with the laundry if you know it will make your partner happy? That little bit of extra effort will help a lot more than you can imagine.
Let the bad things go
No relationship is perfect; there will always be something that you can and probably will be resentful about, but holding it in can only cause further harm down the line. Let the bad things go and that will open your heart up to more love!