How to Improve Your Marriage and Make it Last Forever

Even the happiest couples can slip into despair as mounting problems and distractions wear away at an otherwise successful marriage.  Don’t let your love diminish and your marriage fall by the wayside.  There are plenty of things you can do to fix it.

A lot of married couples don’t see trouble coming and find themselves in a difficult situation when their marriage no longer resembles what it did at the start.  Stressful jobs, problems between family and friends, verbal and physical abuse, troubled finances, infidelity, pornography addiction, drug and alcohol addiction, and even lifestyle changes can all drain the spice out of a good marriage.

The first thing to do is identify the problem or problems.  If you can’t admit to the problem, you may be contributing to it rather than helping.  Secondly, talk to your partner.  Just as it’s unfair for your spouse to hide things from you, it’s not fair for you to hide your feelings from them and expect them to change anything.  If you still love them, give them a chance to make things right.

If communicating directly with your spouse does no good, you may want to involve a councilor, but it’s best not to make this a family member or friend who is untrained in dealing with marriage problems.  This can make the situation much worse.  Sometimes, it is not practical to spend money for counseling, but you have to ask yourself how important a part of your life your spouse is.  If you want to make your marriage to last, you may have to make sacrifices in order to work things out.  A happy marriage is worth much more than any material thing you could ever possess anyway.

Once you’ve begun working on your problems, try to find some interests that you both share.  Try new activities and see if you can agree on something fun to do together.  If your interests don’t overlap in many areas, this is OK too.  Try to compromise and do things with them even if you don’t enjoy them.  On the flip side, they must participate in an equal number of things that you like to do.

Always listen to your partner.  Whether you agree with their ideas or not, actively listen to them and give them your honest opinion, but never say anything that you will regret later.  Give your marriage time to heal and continue to do things for each other.  Do some research and find helpful books or movies to enjoy together.

Give Your Spouse a Relaxing Massage at Home

Treat your spouse to a well-prepared massage.  Help them relax and ease the tension from a long hard day.

Begin by learning proper massage technique.  You can take massage classes from a massage therapy school or you can find training DVD videos online.  It is important not to hurt your spouse by using improper techniques.  Also, do not attempt a hot stone therapy unless you know what you are doing.

Purchase the necessary equipment.  At very least have a massage table, some linens, and some massage oil.  Find a quiet room in your home where you can avoid the outside world for at least an hour.  Take the phone off the hook and if you have children, let them stay with a relative for a few hours.  The goal is to achieve uninterrupted quiet time with your spouse.  Prepare the room by setting up the table and covering the windows with blankets to block any outside light.  Turn on some relaxing music.  Soft piano music is perfect for this or even some soft nature sounds.  Be sure to turn the music down very low.  Put a glass of ice water in the freezer so that it has time to become very cold.  A heated massage table pad is a nice touch because it feels much better to lay naked on a table when it is warm.  Light some scented candles or burn some scented oil to appeal to their sense of smell.  Do not wear any jewelry or strong cologne or perfume.

Before you begin, find out if your spouse has any trouble areas, like shoulders, neck, or back that are bothering them.  Then, while giving the massage, do not speak if you can help it.  Your spouse will tell you whether the pressure you’re applying is too weak or too strong.  Be mindful of your posture while giving the massage.  You can very easily hurt your back if you are not careful.  Breathe deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth while you massage them.  The sound of your breathing will help to relax them.  Take your time and massage their entire body.  When you are finished, let them lay still and relax for awhile.

When the massage is finished, offer your spouse the cold water and be sure to extinguish the candles.  They may experience dizziness or even nausea after the massage.  If this is the case, care for them and keep the house quiet for as long as possible.  Take turns giving and receiving massages and make it a monthly or even weekly routine.

How to Travel with Young Children

If a road trip is in your future and you have young children, it is imperative that you are prepared.

Plan your route carefully.  Know where you are going and how long it will take you to get there.  Now add time for rest stops and eating.  Pack plenty of snacks and games to keep the children satisfied.  Learn how to play several games that may be played on-the-fly.

While traveling, if you approach a rest area, be sure to ask your spouse and kids if they need to stop.  You will be sorry if you pass up a rest stop and then find out that your children need to use the restroom when you are in the middle of nowhere.

Keep plenty of refreshments on-hand and make sure they are easily accessible without having to pull over.  One good idea is to fill several plastic bags with their favorite cereal.  Be sure all drinks are served in containers with resealable tops.

Teach your children to play some games before the trip.  Take some crossword puzzles or word find puzzles along as well as some of your children’s favorite toys.  Play the “alphabet game”, which involves spotting and calling out letters of the alphabet as they appear on billboards.

Stop often for stretch breaks so that everyone stays as comfortable as possible.  Enjoy traveling with your children and make every trip an adventure.