Monday, July 16, 2012

It's the matter of being there with him

My hubby has a strong passion in football. I admit that during any important league, I have to accept the faith that the league is his first wife and I am the second. Last Saturday, I forced myself to be there by the field watching a football match managed by him. It was not that difficult to spend time for more than one hour by the field with the kids tagging along as there's also a playground for them to do some stretching and explore their curiosity at max. Surprisingly, it was not that bad spending time by the field..It's not that I enjoyed the game as much although there were times when I couldn't hide my despair when my fav team wasted the opportunity to score, but being there with him at my sight gave a special feeling to me..the seconds when we exchanged gaze and even the sound of his voice calling me, made me felt closer to him..Now I believe why happy couples always do things together..It is not the matter of doing the same thing together, but the matter of being together at the same time, the same place though doing different things..I won't refuse if he ask me to tag along if he ever had football match again..

Let me share some secrets of happy married couples:

 Cultivate common interests. After the passion settles down, it's common to realize that you have few interests in common. But don't minimize the importance of activities you can do together that you both enjoy. If common interests are not present, happy couples develop them. At the same time, be sure to cultivate interests of your own; this will make you more interesting to your mate and prevent you from appearing too dependent.

Walk hand in hand or side by side. Rather than one partner lagging or dragging behind the other, happy couples walk comfortably hand in hand or side by side. They know it's more important to be with their partner than to see the sights along the way.

Make trust and forgiveness your default mode. If and when they have a disagreement or argument, and if they can't resolve it, happy couples default to trusting and forgiving rather than distrusting and begrudging.

Focus more on what your partner does right than what he or she does wrong. If you look for things your partner does wrong, you can always find something. If you look for what he or she does right, you can always find something, too. It all depends on what you want to look for. Happy couples accentuate the positive.

Hug each other as soon as you see each other after work. Our skin has a memory of "good touch" (loved), "bad touch" (abused) and "no touch" (neglected). Couples who say hello with a hug keep their skin bathed in the "good touch," which can inoculate your spirit against anonymity in the world. 
 
Say "I love you" and "Have a good day" every morning. This is a great way to buy some patience and tolerance as each partner sets out each day to battle traffic jams, long lines and other annoyances. 

Say "Good night" every night, regardless of how you feel. This tells your partner that, regardless of how upset you are with him or her, you still want to be in the relationship. It says that what you and your partner have is bigger than any single upsetting incident.

 Do a "weather" check during the day. Call your partner at home or at work to see how his or her day is going. This is a great way to adjust expectations so that you're more in sync when you connect after work. For instance, if your partner is having an awful day, it might be unreasonable to expect him or her to be enthusiastic about something good that happened to you. 

 Be proud to be seen with your partner. Happy couples are pleased to be seen together and are often in some kind of affectionate contact -- hand on hand or hand on shoulder or knee or back of neck. They are not showing off but rather just saying that they belong with each other. 

Even if these actions don't come naturally, happy couples stick with them until they do become a part of their relationship. They know that it takes 30 days for a change in behavior to become a habit, and a minimum of six months for a habit to become a way of life and love.

Always truely and deeply in love....