14th February is that day of the year when we must celebrate our relationships and express our love. But Delhi’s eminent Relationship and Marriage Counsellor Shivani Misri Sadhoo shares that celebrating one Valentine day in a year is not enough. In healthy & blissful relationships, couples don’t wait for a special occasion to show their appreciation. They genuinely enjoy doing nice things for one another “just because” ― they value each other and no prompting is required.
1. They make sure they feel connected
Whether it’s a ‘hi’ message or call, happy couples always reach out. They call to say, ‘I’m running late’, or ‘do you need me anything on my way back home?’ These may sound simple text messages but they, in reality, convey that person is thinking about their partner and helps the couples to stay emotionally connected.
2. They never forget to compliment their partner.
Remember happy couples may not be always texting lovey-dovey messages like “you’re the best husband /wife of the word” but they definitely acknowledge each other’s contributions like, “oh you made a fabulous breakfast today”, “I am very impressed by the way you teach the kids”, etc.
Although some couples do well without positive feedback, the majority of people like at least a little bit of verbal appreciation for their contribution and happy couples do maintain that ratio.
3. They act generously
Whether moving clothes to the dryer for their partner or watching the same romantic movie again, which their partner loves, highly fulfilled couples tend to maintain great satisfaction from being thoughtful and generous toward their partner rather than scorekeeping.
4. They regularly say ‘thank you.’
No matters what is the duration of their partnership be it one year or half a century of togetherness, happy couples keep their relationship fire alive and burn it bright by regularly noticing their partner’s contributions to their life. People want to be reminded that they are invaluable and secure couples understand that this should be frequent. Acknowledging your partner’s efforts and contributions consistently build an even deeper connection.
5. And never forget to say ‘I love you.’
Generally, after the initial stages of a relationship – couple uses “I love you” mostly on special occasions – Valentine ’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries etc. Sometimes the expression of “I love you” comes from one partner and the other one follows. But in a happy relationship, both partners initiate saying it and they do it when it’s unprompted, unsolicited, and unexpected and when they say “I love you” they mean it from their bottom of their heart.
Shivani Misri Sadhoo is of Delhi's eminent Psychologist, Relationship expert and marriage counselor and works with India 's top hospital groups like Fortis Hospital, IBS (Indian Brain