5 Quick and Easy Ways to Improve your Relationship

We all come from varied backgrounds and cultures and have experienced a myriad of situations.  From it all, we form different opinions about moral issues, relationship issues, etc.  Even if two people are subjected to the exact same circumstances in every way they would still conclude different things.  For me, that's the beauty of it all.  I find the diversity exhilerating.

When it comes to chosing a significant other, whether it's a boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, or even best friend, we seem to attract people who have the potential to help us learn the most about ourselves.  I think this is the core to understanding how you can improve a relationship

• Get to know what makes the other person tick.  Listen to them.  They will always give off clues about why they feel the way they do about different issues.  Empathize by putting yourself in their shoes.  See things through their eyes.
• Practice being a better communicator.  Don't raise your voice, learn to use words that keep the tone down.  Ask more questions and make fewer proclamations.  Delve into the why's of a situation instead of simply reacting to the situation.
• Once you know another person's fears and anxieties, do what you can to help them overcome them.  For instance, if they have trouble trusting people because of past hurts, make sure you demonstrate your trustworthiness as often as you can.  Don't go overboard and end up looking suspicious, but prove yourself and let them gradually begin to believe in someone again.
• The faults you see in others are there to help you understand something about yourself.  This is always a tough one because we all have trouble with this.  We look at a liar and cannot see how that tells us anything about ourselves if we don't feel that we lie.   However, could there be anything you MIGHT be lying to yourself about?  Would it help if I said, "is there anything you MIGHT be kidding yourself about?"  Maybe it's the word "lie" that blocks you from seeing it in yourself.  As you begin to work on your own issues, you'll see fewer of fewer of their issues popping up.  Funny how that works.
• After an argument or situation in which you have disagreed with someone, stop and right down at least ten things you like or admire about them.  Force yourself to.  I promise you will find at least ten.  If you can't, then you're still too focused on your anger and in that moment you're the one with the biggest issue.  As you remind yourself of all the things you love about them you will begin to put yourself back into a mode of assisting the relationship to improve.