Communication is the foundation of any good relationship. Maintaining a good and healthy relationship is hard, but there are many couples who succeed at it every day. Every relationship goes through difficult patches, and what helps a couple get through it and come out of it stronger is the ability to maintain and strong line of communication throughout. A healthy relationship isn’t built in a day, and requires immense effort from both sides. Fortunately, it isn’t impossible, and making sure to include some habits every day and lead you to communicating better with your partner. Below are some habits that couples with strong relationships incorporate into their life, and which can also help your relationship become stronger in the future:
1. No Universal Statements
Universal statements start with words like “you’re always like this”, or “you never do anything”. These statements are not only false, but they also tell your partner that you are generalizing their behavior. These statements are harmful because they make your partner feel unappreciated about everything else they have done right, and can make them retaliate with universal statements of their own once their limit is reached. In the end, it becomes a blame game where both of you are unable to see the positive sides of the relationship. If a certain unwanted behavior keeps recurring, it would help to sit down together and talk constructively about how to overcome this together.
2. Validate Feelings
Emotions never follow logic, which is why they are called emotions, and everyone is entitled to their own feelings. If your partner is feeling something that you may not agree with or understand, it does not mean that you can belittle of dismiss it. It helps to repeat and reflect the feelings back to your partner, and then try to put yourself in their shoes to see why they might be feeling a certain way. Often, past issues and leftover baggage along with insecurities can lead to certain emotions from your partner, and validating their feelings will take you both on a smoother part to sort through the issues.
3. Listen
We all want to feel heard, but not a lot of us actually end up listening. This is especially true in the middle of an argument, and we want to react and make a comeback rather than listen because we want to “win”. However, if we make the time to listen and understand what our partner is trying to communicate to us, we will be able to respond instead of react. As we make time to listen to our partners, we are also showing them how to listen to us when it is time for us to speak.
4. Honesty
Communication and honesty are the two most important pillars that hold up the foundation of a relationship. Good partners don’t shy away from the truth because they want to avoid a confrontation. Small lies end up becoming bigger lies, and this can start crumbling the relationship base slowly but surely. A good partner understands that telling the truth is more important than avoiding emotional confrontation, and appreciates any chance they get to hear what they need to.
5. Humor
Having a sense of humor can keep your relationship easy going and light even if something important is being addressed. It is true that you need a certain level of maturity and seriousness when talking about vital issues, but it is also necessary to see the lighter side of things to avoid being carried away or becoming too stressed. Moreover, adding humor can help both you and your partner to approach tough situations with the right mindset.
6. Flexibility
Being flexible as an important habit to maintain if you see your relationship working out in the long run. Not every idea we have is the best, and being open to changes based on what our partner’s point of view can be great. Not only will this help you to develop a new perspective, it also makes your partner feel like they are playing an important role in your life.
