Five secrets to a happy marriage

By ELIZABETH CHERNEFF

McClatchy Newspapers

Planning a date with your spouse? Get outdoors before winter weather sets in.

More News

Redbook magazine recently asked couples nationwide to share their top marriage-strengthening solutions. Here are the top five things couples do regularly to make their relationships work.

1. Talk to each other: Take the time to improve communication in your marriage by checking in while at work or following another daily or weekly relationship ritual.

2. Flirt: Don’t resist the urge to compliment each other or toss out fantasies like you did while dating.

3. Get stupid together: Secretly addicted to bad reality television? Indulging in a shared and harmless guilty pleasure can improve communication all around in a relationship.

4. Declare your independence: Couples therapist Tina Tessina says that a series of hollow routines is worse for your marriage than having no routines at all. The solution, according to Tessina, is to also make a daily habit of getting away from each other.

5. Share a spiritual moment: One University of Chicago survey found that those couples (including interfaith couples) who pray together are more likely to respect each other, discuss their marriage together and rate their spouses as more highly skilled lovers.

Posted on Tue, Nov. 03, 2009 10:15 PM

Buzz Up

Comment (0)

Join the discussion

Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open, civil debate is the goal. Please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as abuse" link.