ACHIEVING SEXUAL SATISFACTION: STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING INTIMACY & PLEASURE
Romance and intimacy play a crucial role in building and maintaining a healthy relationship, as a relationship is a long term commitment. It is an essential aspect of human interaction that allows individuals to connect on a deeper level. Romance and intimacy are the glue that holds a relationship together and are strong building blocks for a healthy and loving long term relationship.
A relationship that is devoid of romance and intimacy can quickly become dull and lifeless, leading to dissatisfaction and ultimately, the breakdown of the relationship. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the role of romance and intimacy in a healthy relationship and how it can help strengthen the bond in the relationship.
DEFINITION OF ROMANCE IN A RELATIONSHIP
At its core, romance is about creating a sense of closeness and intimacy between two individuals. It involves expressing affection and admiration towards your partner in a way that makes them feel cherished and valued. It includes various gestures and actions such as physical touch, verbal expressions of love, surprise gifts, dates, and romantic getaways. Romance involves creating a sense of excitement and anticipation, as well as fostering emotional intimacy between partners. It can be seen as an ongoing effort to keep the love and passion alive in a relationship.
TYPES OF ROMANCE IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP
Romance can take on many forms, and what works for one couple may not work for another. Different couples have a different preferences and therefore the definition of romance differs from couple to couple. Here are a few different types of romance that couples can explore in order to enhance the intimacy in their relationship:
PHYSICAL ROMANCE
As the name suggests, this type of romance involves physical touch, such as holding hands, hugging, kissing, or cuddling. It helps to build a sense of intimacy and physical closeness between partners.
VERRBAL ROMANCE
Humans as social beings, display a variety of emotions, which includes words and gestures between the partners. This type of romance involves expressing love and affection through words. It can be as simple as saying “I love you” or leaving a heartfelt romantic note or a letter. This type of romance helps partners to feel appreciated and valued. It is a sort of indirect communication that enhances the relationship and strengthens the bonds between the partners.
GIFTING ROMANCE
This love language expresses emotions through gifts. Giving thoughtful gifts to your partner expresses your love that show how much you care. It can be as simple as bringing home your partner’s favourite snack or surprising them with a special gift. This can also be expressed through gifting an expensive dinner or a holiday to your partner.
ADVENTURE ROMANCE
For those couples with a sense of thrills and adventure, this type of romance involves planning exciting and adventurous activities together. It could be a hiking trip, a bungee jumping adventure, a day trip to a new city, or trying a new hobby together as partners. This type of romance helps couples to bond and create shared experiences and develop new hobbies.
INTELLECTUAL ROMANCE
This type of romance involves sharing intellectual pursuits and interests with your partner, engaging in meaningful conversations, and exploring new ideas together. This type of romance involves creating something unique and special for your partner.
It could be writing a song or poem, making a homemade gift, or planning a surprise party. This type of romance helps to show your creativity for expressing your love for your partner how much you care. This could be one of the most memorable memories in your relationship as it contains an element of surprise in the relationship.
THE IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS OF INTIMACY IN A RELATIONSHIP
Intimacy is about creating a deep and meaningful connection with your partner. It involves sharing your thoughts, feelings, and desires in a way that makes you feel vulnerable and exposed. Intimacy can take on many forms, including physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual intimacy.
The Role of romance and intimacy in a healthy relationship cannot be overstated. Here are some of the benefits of cultivating romance and intimacy in a relationship:
SHOW APPRECIATION AND GRATITUDE TOWARDS YOUR PARTNER TO RENEW YOUR RELATIONSHIP
Everyone wants to be appreciated, including your spouse. Thank them for the little things they do for your and express gratitude for the contributions that they have made in your life, no matter how small it may be.
The biggest mistake that both partners in a marriage are guilty of is to take each other for granted once they settle down in a relationship. Expressing gratitude towards your spouse for what he/she is can help your spouse feel valued and loved. Any relationship takes two to manage and therefore both partners are important for each other. They both have strengths and weaknesses and have to complement each other in their marriage.
Make your spouse feel valued and appreciated. Appreciating your spouse is one of the simplest ways to improve your marriage. People want to know that what they do is important. Make it a point to tell your spouse how much you appreciate what he or she does for you and your marriage. It will go a long way towards creating the ideal relationship of your dreams that you always dreamt of before your married.
COMPARING YOUR MARRIAGE WITH OTHERS IS A SURE SHOT RECIPE FOR DISASTER
Comparisons with others is the easiest thing in any relationship. This is particularly true in the case of marriage. It’s easy to compare your relationship to that of other married couples. The only thing is that you have no idea how their marriage is going because you are not staying with them.
If you really did have a chance to swap your married life with theirs in reality, you might be sorry. Infidelity, mental or emotional abuse, neglect, or divorce are all possibilities. Wasting your time and energy on wishing for someone else’s marriage, it is a wise choice to focus your time and energy to improving your own.
Your marriage will never be perfect because no marriages are perfect. Human beings themselves have been built for imperfection. The biggest secret of long lasting marriages is the characteristic of imperfection between the partners.
Rather than striving for perfection, it is wise to accept your partner’s imperfections the way they are and be happy. However, that doesn’t mean you have to settle for a mediocre marriage in any way. Unconditionally accepting your partner with their strengths and their weaknesses goes a long way in creating a happy and successful long term marriage.
A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE TAKES TWO TO TANGO
A marriage is a partnership between two individuals, and therefore it is essential to collaborate to achieve common goals as well as individual goals. Whether it is working together to save for a family vacation or for investing in a holiday home, or saving together for your children’s education, can strengthen your bond and create a sense of accomplishment. Be open to compromise and supportive of each other’s goals, no matter how small they may be.
BE DELIBERATE IN YOUR ACTIONS TO RENEW YOUR RELATIONSHIP
Since a marriage is a long term commitment, planning and purpose are required for marriage improvement. Set common goals as a couple and always consider the next stage of your marriage to be the most important period of your life, whether you are planning to be proud parents, or planning your retirement.
Your future depends on the next year or two from today, so don’t just sit back and hope for the best. Your actions today can influence what happens tomorrow, but it takes preparation. What things can you do for and with your spouse to improve your marriage? Set aside a date with your partner some time each week to brainstorm and reflect on this question. You’ll be surprised at how planning to improve your marriage can actually lead to a better marriage in the long term.
KEEP THE ROMANCE ALIVE TO RENEW YOUR RELATIONSHIP & KEEP IT ALIVE
Romance doesn’t have to die after the honeymoon phase. Keep the spark alive by surprising your spouse with small gestures, like a love note or a thoughtful gift. Physical intimacy is also important in a marriage, so make sure you’re both making an effort to connect on a physical level. Warm up the weekends with a massage or a hot shower together, or set up a date night once in a week or a fortnight with a romantic dinner. If you have kids, drop the kids at their grandparents and head out for a romantic weekend. Keeping the romance alive in a marriage takes the stress off the daily life and keeps the marriage fresh and alive.
In any relationship, particularly so in the case of a marriage, no partner is perfect, and mistakes will occur. It is critical to practise forgiveness and to let go of the daily grudges. Holding onto anger and resentment on the small stuff can harm your relationship and make moving forward difficult.
When you’re wrong, accept that you’re wrong and apologise, and forgive your spouse when/she apologises. Holding grievances and hurt in the relationship not only affects your physical health, but also your mental health once you start aging gradually.
A MARRIAGE IS NOT A BATTLEGROUND ABOUT BEING RIGHT OR WRONG
This is especially the case if your partner is petty and disrespectful. You must, however, decide what you want. Do you want to repair your marriage or avenge your spouse? I’m not suggesting you become a doormat and let your spouse walk all over you.
There is no need, however, to respond to every stupid and possibly immature thing your spouse does. You must be the mature one in order to improve your marriage. Instead of vengeance, be respectful. A marriage where one person undermines the other partner, and the ego comes into the picture, is a sure shot recipe for disaster.
In conclusion, a successful marriage requires effort, commitment, and love. Communication, quality time, appreciation, teamwork, romance, and forgiveness are all key components to making your marriage better. Remember that it’s not about being perfect, but rather about putting in the effort to build a strong and healthy relationship.
