Your friendship has fizzled or the fire has died down? There are many reasons why you may need your love to be rekindled. The most popular explanation is that to keep your love alive, one or both of you have stopped putting in the effort required. You may have stopped gently listening to each other or you may have begun to punish each other for mistakes. For several couples, life transitions can also be hard to handle.
Over time, taking the following small steps will lead to massive changes in your relationship and help you bring back the spark.

  • Be Respectful: Instead of judging, communicate openly without criticism. Show anger instead of disdain, eye rolls or passive-aggressive remarks. Ditch the defensiveness; taking feedback is vital so that you and your relationship can strengthen. Listen to your partner rather than being a stonewall and have a positive discussion when things are not going as smoothly as you would like. Learn to express with respect, even your disappointments.
  • Focus on Win-Win: Avoid keeping track of everything you do and everything that your partner doesn’t. Stop the need for you to be right. People in happy marriages should not see themselves as two distinct sides. The “I win, you lose” attitude should not exist. Instead, you should concentrate on a win-win strategy. That means being able to compromise, acknowledging when you’re wrong and concentrating on being happy instead of being right.
  • Apologize: From time to time, we all screw up, say things we regret later on, and do things that we just shouldn’t and yet, we justify these actions so often, for ourselves and for our partners. This can contribute to resentment and defensiveness that are not the components of a happy relationship. When you mess up next time, admit your mistake and move on. That’s going to help your partner feel closer to you.
  • Listen more than you talk: This tip is many-faced. First of all, listening to your partner, really listening, is vital. Ask them about their day and then be interested. You might want to practice some empathy skills training if you find it difficult to be interested.
  • Get Physical: A secret to a significant relationship is physical contact. This involves sex, of course, but also so much more. Give a hug to your partner, rub their back, hold their hand, offer a massage. With physical contact, oxytocin is released, which has been shown to have several advantages, from feeling closer to being more compassionate and even having a stronger immune system.

Kritika is a freelance content writer with Femsay.com