Friday, April 24, 2009

Dating Relationships - Ways to Improve Your Dating Relationships

Every dating relationship can use improvement. Even if you’ve been happily together for a long time, there is still room for growth. Dating relationships that stop improving will eventually stop growing and become stagnant. Just like a body of water needs a constant influx of new water to keep it fresh so do dating relationships. Dating relationships can’t be hit or miss but must be purposeful and intentional.

Think about relationships like driving a car. If you were to place the car on cruise control and take your hands off the wheel you would either crash or run out of gas. Many dating relationships have been placed on cruise control; there’s no direction, no growth and intentional improvements. This leads to burnout or boredom in the dating relationship and eventually to the end of the relationship.

One of the fist steps to improve your current relationship is to achieve greater respect for one another. This can come out in various ways. For some this means more communication for other it means more personal time and others it may mean better listening skills. Each individual has areas of their heart that feel respected and appreciated. For many women, listening and being understood is one of those respect areas. When a man takes the time to authentically listen to the woman and provide feedback from his heart, the woman feels heard, understood and respected. Think about your partner and how you can improve your level of respect in your relationship.

Another step to improve your relationship is to learn better communication. Communication can make or break a dating relationship. There are many aspects to communicating effectively. You need to learn to listen with your heart, communicate in such a way that the person you’re talking to understands you and that your non-verbals match your verbal’s. Communication is one of the first things to go in a dating relationship that is experiencing difficulty. Both people become frustrated and in a sense give up on each other. Communication is like the fuel of a car, once it runs out the car will stop. If you’re having difficulty communicating, you may want to seek out a third party to play the middle man to help the two of you.

Lastly, make more time for each other. Learning how to spend quality time together is crucial to improve any dating relationship. Keep in mind that time alone doesn’t do anything; it must be purposeful, quality time. Do things that will encourage conversation and growth between the two of you. Do things that have greater meaning to your relationship. If your partner loves the theater, go see a show. If they love sports, go to a local game. However you choose to spend your time, let it be memorable, fun and enjoyable. Like a fine wine, the more time it sits the better it becomes. Marinade your relationship with quality time and see the price tag of your love go through the roof.

Dating relationships require a lot of time, investment and effort. By continuing to improve your communication, respect and time for one another you will find yourself reaping a wonderful harvest of love and growth in your dating relationship.