Shine Your Love
A relationship is like a house. When a lightbulb burns out, you replace the lightbulb not the house.
We were raised in a world where perfection is the norm. If your sneakers aren’t perfect, buy new ones. If the food goes bad, the store isn’t far away. The keys on your computer sticks, just get a new one. It’s probably out of date anyway.
Unfortunately this happens in all aspects of our lives. People have gotten so used to everything in life being disposable, they forget that anything worth having takes work – including our relationships.
Today I challenge you to make a list of three things you appreciate about your partner. Bonus points if you tell them that you appreciate these things.
A nurtured relationship is like watching the leaves change color in the fall; always changing and growing more beautiful with each day.
I planted a hydrangea bush in my garden. I watered it, fed it, and pruned it and it grew more stronger, but didn’t flower. The next year I watered it often, fed it monthly, and pruned it when necessary. That year the magnificent flowers blossomed into stunning shades of blues and pinks.
Relationships are like my hydrangea bush. If you take your time, keep working at it, and don’t give up, the results will knock your socks off!
The best person to discuss your relationship with is the person who is in the relationship with you.
We have all seen the social media posts with the daily saga of someone’s relationship. We have seen the ups and the downs and all the in-betweens.
Most of us can name at least one couple who seems to have it all. This couple doesn’t fight; they love each other so completely that they don’t even complain about each other.
How can you have that type of relationship? Truthfully, it doesn’t exist. The difference between the two types of couples is the fact that one of those couples keeps their relationship private. They communicate with their partner and make sure that they “run things by them.” They don’t say negative things about their partner. They confront the problem and then let it go.
If you want to be happy, communicate with your partner. Keep them up-to-date on your life and have weekly discussions to hammer out the issues you have. The secret to having a happy relationship is to be happy with each other. If your spouse does something that makes you upset, calm down and talk to them. Talking to someone else is not going to solve the issue. That person isn’t in your relationship, so keep them out of it.
Be happy with the relationship you have while working to make it the relationship you want.
Appreciation is one of the secrets to a happy relationship. Most relationships fail because at least one of the people involved are looking for that perfect relationship. They work so hard looking for perfection that sometimes they let good relationships go so they can search for the right person to help them achieve perfection.
Boy that’s a lot of pressure! Can you live up to perfection? Why would you expect that of someone you’re supposed to love?
Life is about enjoying what you have. You wouldn’t throw away your car because it ran out of gas. You wouldn’t sell your house because the steps creak. You would figure out what’s wrong and fix it. Why should your relationship be any different? Any relationship can be fixed if you both put in the work.
Find something fun to do with your partner every day. Laugh together, dance together, sing together, play games together, or do whatever makes you both happy. That is not the secret to the perfect relationship. However, it is the secret to a relationship that’s perfect for you. Enjoy!
Never stop showing someone how much they mean to you.
This could be about your relationship with your partner, your children, your parents, your friends, or even your favorite sandwich artist at Subway.
Showing someone how much they mean to you doesn’t have to involve elaborate plans or expensive gifts. Show them you appreciate them by smiling at them, ask them about their day, respond to their text messages, answer their phone calls, or just be kind to them.
Today I challenge you to do one thing to show someone how much you appreciate them.
The light that shines from heart to heart is love.
Have you ever noticed that when you feel really good, you spread those feelings to other people? Feelings are contagious. If you are upset, your child gets upset. If you are excited, the people around you get excited.
Be aware of the emotions you put out into the world. Remember that they can affect everyone around you. When you allow love to shine from your heart, everyone will feel it. A little love and happiness can really make a difference in someone’s life.
Think of something that makes you happy and just smile for at least 30 seconds (the longer you smile, the better you’ll feel.) Do you feel the happiness and love? Take that feeling into the world today. If you do this every time you feel negativity creeping back in, you will start to notice the happiness and love radiating from people around you.
True love shines like a lighthouse despite the winds and the waves.
It doesn’t matter how strong the winds are or how many waves are thrown at you. If you both want to be in a relationship, you will find a way to do so.
The trick here is that you have to both be willing to weather the storms that are thrown at you. Communication is a key to happiness. Without communication your relationship will sink. If this relationship is important to both of you, you have to be willing to do the work required to make it last.
Today I want you to sit down with your partner. Spend two minutes looking into each other’s eyes without talking. Then have a conversation with them. Tell them how much they mean to you and what you appreciate about them. Look into their eyes and pay attention to what they are saying. Listen to their words. Watch their body language. Try to do this often. The more you practice, the easier it is and the more you both feel satisfied with your relationship.
No relationship is all sunshine. But if two people learn to share an umbrella, together they can survive any storm.
We have this idealistic vision that we will meet the right person and automatically the rest of our lives will fall into place and be nothing but happy times. In reality, we need to find that one person who is willing to work with us to make our relationship strong.
Closeness comes from thinking together. Don’t just assume your partner feels the way you think they do. Talk to them. Communicate with them. Work through the problems together. Make your relationship so strong that the next time a storm comes through, you can sit on your porch and watch for the rainbow…together.
Love is a meeting of two souls who completely accept both the darkness and the light within each other.
Some people believe that love is a fairy tale. Prince Charming just walks into your life and birds start singing and the world is a better place. Usually a few months later the real world creeps into the fairy tale and these people are blindsided. This isn’t love, it’s just a fairy tale.
“True love” is when both people spend the time learning about their partner. They put in the work and learn how to balance the good and the bad. They learn to work through problems and celebrate their victories together.
A relationship is the rainbow between two hearts.
When you look at a rainbow, you see seven colors that make up one beautiful creation. Like a rainbow, a relationship is made up of seven feelings that form a stunning masterpiece. When you combine the feelings of faith, love, happiness, respect, sadness, trust, and truth the result is an amazingly deep connection.
Spend a few minutes every day appreciating the connection you have with your partner. Bonus – tell them what you appreciate about them.
