Did you know that you can be too content with your spouse?
Too much contentment leads to complacency, a common marriage problem.
Here’s the thing: Complacency corrodes relationships from the inside out. And damage is done before you realize there was even a problem!
For many couples, the pathway to complacency
begins when they start coasting along in their relationship in a state of innocent mindlessness instead of being mindful of each other.
Over time, coasting leads to a dull, boring and routine relationship, which creates heaps of complacency.
It's not long before you and your spouse start drifting apart - you might not even notice it at first because it happens so slowly.
The relationship enters shark infested waters when boredom
settles in because
boredom is a breeding ground for bigger problems like emotional or physical infidelity.
So what can we do?
**** Most common marriage problems such as complacency are created when we neglect to spend meaningful, fulfilling time with our partner. *****
We need to be intentional about investing our
time, effort and energy into our marriage to make it work so that complacency doesn't wash away our relationship over time.
Here’s the good news: You can get rid of complacency and many other common marriage problems through thoughtful, caring gestures that demonstrate to your spouse how much you
love them.
For example, at the end of a long hard day you might offer to rub their shoulders, massage their feet, or hold them close in a loving embrace for a few moments.
Complimenting your spouse often helps, too.
Show your spouse how much you love and respect them. Demonstrate how glad you are to be with them and how happy you are that they are in your life!
If you think you're coasting into complacency, decide right now to reignite the fires of intimacy. Here are some ideas to help you get started:
1)
Touch as you pass each other at home, or hold hands when out and about.
2) Kiss one another when saying “hello” or “goodbye.”
3) Hug each other warmly every day.
4) Serve each other by doing something nice or that makes your spouse's life easier like filling the car with gas, making their favorite meal, or
planning a special date to do something THEY’VE been wanting to do - just do something special/unexpected for your partner; put some thought into it to demonstrate that you care.
**** 5) This is one of our favorites: Work as a team to do something special for someone else. When you give back to make someone's life better,
you infuse your marriage with purpose and a sense of fulfillment.
Marital complacency is a sneaky little problem that YOU can STOP in its tracks today for a better relationship in 2015.
Choose from the list of 5 things above or do your own thing. What matters is that you decide to do something right now to deal with this common marriage problem.
Until next time, this is Mike
& Gayle Tucker and we want you to be mad about marriage!
