A strong marriage is basically determined by how the effort put in by both parties. To forge a strong marriage, a one-sided effort would just not work, this is because both parties must be ready to are compromises and in general, try to co-exist as best as they can. The first step to forging a strong marriage is to take a conscious decision to make things work. Upon taking this decision, you must then be ready for the process involved because there would definitely be times when your partner could see to be frustrating your efforts. It is in times like this that some qualities within you would have to come into play.
One of the determinants of a strong marriage, as crude, as it may sound is sex. When partners do not engage in sexual activities regularly, they could lose a physical connection which would invariably affect their intimacy. Physical contact remains a very important factor in forging a strong marriage. Similarly, research has shown that a few focused minutes of intimacy could result in more intimate moments than most couples experience. Therefore, this has to be a deliberate move on the parts of the couple. Furthermore, frequent intimate contact helps to forge trust and build lasting and true memories of great times too.
Furthermore, no matter how great you show in actions that you care a lot about your partner, it doesn’t hurt to actually put it in words too. Actions might not resonate in their memory but your words would definitely do. Beyond showing them that you actually care about them, you need to tell them of them often also. The little things that you probably used to do when you were dating such as leaving little notes detailing your love for your partner or some sweet poetry shouldn’t end just because you are hitched now. In actual fact, you should try to make a lifetime of doing these sweet little things that actually mean the most.
Notwithstanding how rosy a marriage might seem at first, there would always be a difference in opinion which could lead to conflict. The key to managing this, therefore, is learning the art of conflict resolution. Conflict resolution does not essentially mean that both parties get to have their way which is why you have to resort to compromise. In order to effectively manage conflict, both parties have to be patient and calm in order to understand each person’s perspective. From listening to each other’s points of view, you can then reach a decision or agreement which you are both fines with. However, one factor that couples should avoid as much as possible is the invitation of third parties to settle disputes; as adults, you should be mature enough to do this except on very rare occasions.
Finally, you would need tolerance in order to build a strong marriage. This is because your partner could do some really annoying things which you would just have to tolerate but ensure that you let them know exactly how you feel about their actions in order to not breed resentment.
