We will spend the rest of our lives together. At first, this seems so romantic and ideal. We are in love, after all, and what more could we possibly need than each other? Time certainly will not change our love and devotion.
Our life together begins with festivities and joy. Then the days move forward with adoration and the months turn into happy years that we proudly celebrate with each anniversary. We become comfortable in each other's presence and begin to forget how exciting our love used to be. The butterflies that once filled us with anticipation have flown away to distant shores. The thrill of intimacy has faded to dull obligation. Boredom has invaded our lives without our even noticing its arrival. Boredom leads to frustration and discord. What has happened to our wonderful, exciting love for each other?
Many couples fail to realize that maintaining their love requires an extensive amount of effort. Loving someone for life is not always an easy feat. After spending several years with someone, it becomes easy to overlook those things that made you fall in love with that person to begin with. After ten years with my husband, I have come to understand just how difficult it can be to love someone forever.
If you want to maintain the excitement in your relationship, you need to engage in exciting activities as a couple. This, of course, depends largely on what type of activities you both enjoy. However, being outside is always a good option. There are also several simple daily activities that you can do to nurture your relationship. The key is to plan a variety of activities together to combat boredom.
The most important thing you can do for your relationship is to plan a date night. As simple as it sounds, having a date is a crucial activity for nurturing your relationship. By setting a date, you commit to sharing time together without the distractions of daily life. You will have an opportunity to talk about things that tend to go unnoticed in the chaos of work and family.
Reading a book together can help you connect with each other. Plan to read one chapter each night. Take turns reading aloud to each other, then discuss the chapter before going to sleep. The sound of your partner's voice can be very soothing and relaxing. The book can be on any topic that you both enjoy.
Play hide-and-seek with each other. Choose a simple item to hide where your partner will unexpectedly find it. The item should have some significance in your relationship and be small enough to hide in various locations. A silly shaped candle, perhaps an ugly owl, can be hidden behind canned goods in the pantry or in your spouse's briefcase to provide a quick giggle to the finder of the object and force the finder to have happy thoughts about the hider of the object. Ideally, you will both take turns hiding your special object for the other to find. Our owl has hidden on ceiling fans, inside lamps, under pillows, and even in a glass of water at one of our anniversary dinners. The best hiding so far was when my husband took our owl to my doctor's office on our anniversary and convinced the receptionist to present the owl to me upon signing in for my prenatal appointment. Everybody in the office enjoyed my surprise, including a very pregnant me.
Tell your partner to take a hike, and mean it. Find a local park that has hiking trails where you can both get outside and enjoy nature. Most areas will have a variety of trails with a variety of skill levels. Be sure to take advantage of the cover of nature to steal a few kisses while you are both taking a hike. The great outdoors can be calming and give you both an opportunity to be together away from the rat race.
Find time to take a trip together. Travel somewhere that neither of you has been before. You can share the experience of discovering this new place together. You can reconnect by seeing this new place through each other's eyes. You can also opt to return to your favorite romantic spots that you previously visited together. Those favorite spots help to remind you of previous experiences together.
Take a class together. Find a community class that covers a topic that is interesting to you and your partner. Cooking classes are always good because they provide hands-on entertainment. However, the possibilities are endless. Any local college will have a selection of classes that are open to the community. Sharing this new learning experience will create excitement, and possibly amusement, for you both.
If you are really adventurous, try something a bit crazy together. Go sky-diving or hang gliding. Do something that you always wanted to do but were just a bit too nervous to try. Jumping off the deep end together can be very exciting.
Most importantly, remember to practice courtesy. Simply exhibiting courteous behavior to your partner shows that you love and appreciate him. Treat your partner nicely and remember to use basic manners within your relationship. Respecting your partner is important to maintaining your love. We regularly move through our day exhibiting good manners to complete strangers, yet we often forget those manners with the ones we love the most. So mind your manners.
