Call of the Child: 5 Ways to Improve Your Marriage by Acting like a Kid
Keeping marriage fun and exciting can be challenging. It's easy to allow the daily stresses and responsibilities to zap all of your passion and enthusiasm. One way to keeping the spark alive is to look at your marriage from a different perspective - a child's.
Children have a knack for enjoying life, having fun, and making the most of any situation. As adults, we can apply some of this childlike wonder to our relationships. Learning from them can help us make our marriages more fun and exciting.
If you want to improve your marriage, start acting like a kid and do these 5 things:
1. Be Playful
Maintaining your playful spirit keeps your connection with your spouse strong. Research has shown that couples that play and laugh together have a closer relationship than those that don't. Schedule some time each week to do something that you and your spouse enjoy. Play games, tell jokes, ride bikes, watch cartoons. Never miss an opportunity to have fun with your spouse.
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2. Be Spontaneous
Marriage has way of becoming predictable. If you don't mix things up and be spontaneous every now and then, your marriage runs the risk of becoming bland and lackluster. Do things that you rarely get to do. Make up a new game that only you and your spouse know how to play. Take a spur of the moment vacation. Enroll in a cooking glass. Go skydiving. Bring some adventure and spontaneity into your marriage to keep things interesting.
3. Be Present
Our busy lives often make it difficult to enjoy the special moments. We're constantly running errands, connected to our electronic devices, and working to make a living. Even when we have a few minutes of down time, we can't enjoy them because we're always trying to figure out our next move. Take some time to simply be still and enjoy your spouse's presence. You don't have to do anything. Just sit on the couch and talk. Really talk. Get to know each other again. Reconnect. Listen to one another and give your spouse your undivided attention. Even if you plan an activity with your spouse, be present. Don't worry about photographing it, tweeting it, or sharing it with your friends on Facebook. Just live in the moment and enjoy each other's company.
4. Be Nice
When our children are young, one of the first lessons that we teach them is to be nice and treat others with respect. Unfortunately, we don't always model the behavior we're trying to teach. Even worse, we sometimes fail to be nice to the one we should love the most. Make a conscious effort to be nice to your spouse. Give compliments. Be courteous. Express gratitude. Avoid harsh criticism. Offer the best of yourself to your spouse on a daily basis. Simple acts of kindness can work wonders in a relationship.
5. Be Curious
After several years of marriage, it's easy to fall into the trap of believing that you know everything about your spouse. However, if you remain curious, you will discover amazing things about your spouse, and your relationship will be filled with pleasant surprises. Never stop learning new things about your spouse. Keep your sense of wonderment alive.
-By Frederick J. Goodall
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