It’s not just little girls who dream of a happily-ever-after kind of love. Almost everyone wants to experience a great relationship or marriage that includes keeping love growing.
The wonderful feelings that come with connection and passion are undeniable. And, once you have love like this, you want to keep it going.
You might believe that you have to work hard and be vigilant to create the kind of love that you want.
Unfortunately, this belief can cause you to miss the wonderful moments and joy already going in a relationship or your life. Instead, we encourage you to have fun as you allow the great relationship you’ve always wanted to unfold. You may even discover that you already have a fabulous relationship.
New Year’s resolutions was the focus of a recent editorial column in one of our local newspapers. The columnist observed how she joined the common practice of setting resolutions for herself at the beginning of each new year—particularly goals to eat healthier, exercise more and lose weight. She went on to say that at the end of the year she regularly found that she’d not lived up to those goals and felt disappointed in her failures.
This year she made a new discovery. She realized that her list of resolutions for last year was longer than what she tended to focus on. Lower down on the list included goals like spending more time outdoors, watching more movies and spending more time with friends. She was delighted to find that she did follow through on these “lesser” goals.
The big message in this editorial was that we tend only see what we didn’t do or what isn’t going right in our lives.
And isn’t that the way it often is in our relationships, especially those closest to us!
How freeing and uplifting for the columnist when she expanded her sense of what was important and celebrated what she did accomplish.
Do you find yourself focusing on what’s not going right in your life and your relationships?
If you have a question about keeping love growing, ask it here…
Do you find that you’re so intent on your “goals” that the unmet goals are all you see? Or do you not set any goals but constantly are thinking that you’d like your relationships, especially a love relationship, and your life to be better?
If so, try out these 3 tips for keeping love growing…
Tip #1) Have fun!
As you go through your days, remember to let yourself have fun. It’s easy to fall into the trap of taking ourselves and our relationship too seriously.
Potentially joyful moments get passed by or are muted when we’re so focused on “working hard” to make things better.
While it’s great to keep in mind what you want and focus on looking in that direction…
At the same time, however, make it a priority to enjoy the process along the way. Deeper intimacy and greater connection will be more accessible to you sooner when you are in a lighter, more open place.
Maybe you and your partner have a tendency to jump to conclusions with one another. You’ve both resolved to stop this habit. You’ve talked about it, read about it, even attended workshops teaching you how to better connect.
These can be very helpful ways to make the changes you want. See what happens when you open to allowing yourselves to just be playful and silly sometimes. Infuse frivolity and fun into your lives! Perhaps watching a funny movie together would be inspiring.
You can continue changing an unwanted relationship habit as you have fun along the way.
2.) Celebrate—even the “small” stuff
As we saw in the example of the newspaper column, some of us prioritize our goals–big ones and small ones. The same prioritizing can happen in our relationships. All of our attention goes to the “big” issues which leaves many moments of “little” success discounted or completely unnoticed. How might it feel different if you and your love celebrate even the “small” successes?
If mistrust is a problem in your relationship and you’re struggling to trust again…
Make it a point to celebrate what’s going “right.” As you appreciate what is going well, it becomes easier to see your next step–maybe toward a closer, more loving relationship.
3.) Embrace Possibilities
We’ve suggested that you focus on each moment to notice and celebrate what’s going right. So it might feel like a contradiction when we encourage you to keep alive possibilities of living in a loving space within yourself and with a partner.
What’s alive in your mind can more easily become real when you’re focuses on possibilities.
We aren’t suggesting you ignore the present with your head in the clouds. Instead, allow yourself to see beyond where you are now and open up to the possibility of an even better relationship as you keep appreciating what you already have.
You don’t have to know how it will happen, only what you want your love relationship to look and feel like.
We encourage you to keep possibilities alive, celebrate your successes together, and keep the fun times flowing.