5 Tips for Building Healthy Relationships
Discover the keys to creating and maintaining healthy dating and marriage relationships with grace.
In this blog post, we will explore five essential tips for growing healthy relationships. From effective communication to nurturing trust, learn how to cultivate lasting connections that bring joy and fulfillment to your life.
Growing healthy relationships is a crucial aspect of a fulfilling and meaningful life. Whether it's with friends, family, or romantic partners, the quality of our connections greatly influences our overall well-being. Here are five essential tips to help you cultivate and sustain healthy relationships.
Effective Communication:
We all want to be heard. We want to be understood and accepted when we open up about what we really think and feel. The graceful thing is to treat him how you want to be treated. Listen when he speaks. And listening is so much more than the words he says. Ask yourself, what does he mean by his tone? How is feeling right now? Does he have the outlets he needs to express himself? Does he have the appreciation he wants? Does he have concerns or reservations? When you listen to him you show him that you care, not only about what he says, but who he is as a person. This is a tip you can use with all your friends too. Watch how much more they respect for you for hearing them out and being available to treat them as people.
What do you do when you have things you need to say, but can't find the words your man will understand? It's important to give yourself the grace to put your thoughts and feelings into words. Take your time. When you're ready and when he is ready, you can open up and express yourself clearly.
Establish Boundaries:
Wouldn't it be great if our boyfriends and husbands had the sensitivity to know what we needed when we needed it, where we needed it? For better of worse they seem to need a lot of help! If you want your relationship to blossom like a healthy tree, it's important to give yourself and your partner some rules so that both of you feel comfortable over the long run.
Clearly outline your personal boundaries and communicate them. Do you need quiet time after 10pm? Do you feel comfortable going out with the guys? and so on. You want to feel respected and so does he. There's going to be some sacrifice for both of you, but in a way those sacrifices are how you tell each other "you mean this much to me."
Once you've communicated your boundaries, be sure to stay consistent to them. If you take each situation case by case instead of sticking to your boundary you will have to second guess your own judgment each time. Save yourself the stress, giver yourself a healthy amount of respect and be consistent.
What if you change your mind about your boundaries? That's ok, you have the right to communicate your needs as you grow. But, you love your partner so tell him where you're coming from. This is about building trust and deepening the relationship.
Cultivate Empathy:
The greatest gift we can give to our men is to understand them. This is what real intimacy is. Everything else is part of that. Since you live in your own shoes, you have to actively cultivate the sensitivity to the needs of others.
Empathy comes easy for many women, but don't be ashamed if this isn't you. You can learn empathy by practicing being sensitive to the needs of others, starting with the people closest to you. This is the glue that will keep you together.
Where this can be really challenging is when someone, not just our men, comes at an issue from a perspective that feels emotionally wrong. There's just something about their perspective that I can't agree with. You don't have to change your beliefs, but you should give some grace to meet them where they're at. How are they seeing the world and can I walk with them for a short stroll? With husbands, we have to live with them, so it can be really hard to cultivate this grace, but it will heal many misunderstandings.
Prioritize Quality Time:
If you're dating, maybe you see your boyfriend twice a week, or a couple times a month. If you're married you live with your husband every day. Either way, as the relationship matures, you can get into a rut of doing the same things together. Every couple has their "traditions," but you want to keep this thing alive and bright and beautiful, so you have to get together and make plans to do fun things you don't typically do everyday. Focus on the quality of time spent together rather than the quantity. When you are old, you will look back on those outings with grace and remember what a wonderful life you have lived and what a blessing it was to share it with your guy.
Also, may I put in a plug for a digital detox? You don't have to go camping, but maybe leave your phones at home on your next date.
Nurturing Trust:
This one is super important! How do you give grace and deepen the trust between you two? The short answer is let your partner read your mind. What do I mean? Well, if your man can learn your habits, then he can adapt to be supportive of those habits.
Another part of this is following through on commitments. You want to live by your word. This way, you will respect yourself, your partner will respect you, and everyone will respect you more. It takes a lot of sacrifice to raise kids or buy property together, so you need to know that you will both be there for each other
What about when you can't meet a commitment? Or he can't meet his? Now we're back to effective communication. When you know you have to back out, then you should communicate it as soon as you are able. When he backs out, you should listen to understand why he made that decision and get a better perspective of what he's going through.
Growing healthy relationships takes humility, sacrifice, openness, a lot of trial and error, and yes—grace. But, with these 5 tips you can foster healthy positive relationships that will give you more than you could have asked for.
