Doing Things Apart is the Key to Making Your Marriage Work

How do you get the marriage you've always wanted? Well, if you believe a new study, it's doing things by yourself.

I’d be willing to bet nobody has ever given you that advice before.  But according to a study on the “Keys to a Successful Marriage” the most popular answer was “make sure both people in the marriage get regular opportunities to do things without each other.”

78% of happily married couples surveyed say, it's important for both people to pursue their own individual interests and hobbies.

That answer got more than twice as many votes as the number two key to a successful marriage, learning how to argue in a healthy way.

I’ve been married for over 7 years, and I can honestly say my wife and I practice this advice quite frequently. While we still do the majority of things together and share many of the same things in common, she has her own interests and I have mine. She has taken numerous vacations by herself or with a friend, while I go off and do my own thing. I know it sounds a little strange and that type of a relationship might not be for everyone, but it works for us. There just might be some validity to this whole “individual interests” thing after all.

Looking for more keys to a happy marriage, here are a few courtesy of Redbook:

Find a shared dream for your life together.  Happy couples work together to achieve the same big dream.

Ignite a sexual connection. It’s crucial for the health of your emotional connection.

Choose each other as your first family.  Make your husband/wife relationship the A-team and focal point in your life.

Learn how to fight right. Couples are going to fight. It’s inevitable. The key is staying focused on the issue at hand and respecting each other's perspective.

Build a best friend relationship. Happy couples can count on the other person to listen and try to meet each other's needs.  

Face down major challenges together. Life is always going to throw you the occasional curve ball and plant a few assorted speed bumps in your path along the way. Whether it’s something like a health issue, job loss, death of a family member, etc.  The secret is teaming up and facing these types of things together.  

I’d love to hear some of your own secrets to a happy marriage. Feel free to comment below. Here’s to many years of marital bliss for you and your spouse!

Source: PR Newswire