5 Sure-Fire Ways to Cultivate Trust in Your Marriage
We don’t know about you, but one look at a magazine and you see headline after headline about how to know if he’s cheating on you…what you can do to keep her interested, etc. All of the negative about relationships can cause any spouse to wonder about the trust that they have in their marriage. With only a few simple steps you and your spouse can rest assured that your relationship was meant to last. Here are 5 sure-fire ways to cultivate trust in your marriage.
5 Sure-Fire Ways to Cultivate Trust in Your Marriage
- Be Transparent…Even When It’s Uncomfortable
One thing that we work hard on is being transparent with one another. That doesn’t mean that it’s always easy or comfortable. When one of us is concerned about finances or feels that our marriage is taking a back burner to other parts of life, we talk about it. At first the discussion may not be fun, but it keeps us on the same page and gives us the opportunity to work together to make our marriage work. Talking about the not-as-fun parts of life also help us to remember that we’re together through thick or thin.
- Talk about Common Goals
Throughout life goals change and our visions may take different focuses. As your goals are met and change, work to meet them together. We chat on a regular basis about the vision that we have for our family and the steps that each of us are taking (and will keep on taking) to make that vision a reality. Conversations like this will help both of you to remember that you’re in this for the long run and that the other is the person that you most want to grow old with.
Cultivating Trust in Your Marriage
- Give Each Other Your Space
Taking time for yourself (and giving your spouse some “me” time) is an important part of building a trusting marriage. While we value our time together, we also encourage one another to explore hobbies, get together with friends and take some time to de-stress. Not only does this help us to know that we trust each other when we’re not together, but it also gives us the opportunity to recharge so that we can put the most into our family and our marriage.
- Find Common Ground on Values
Similar to having common goals, we’ve also found it important to talk about our values (especially when related to parenting!). Chatting regularly about our faith, the parts of our family about which we feel most passionate and where we want to channel our energy help us to remember that our significant other has the same priorities. Knowing that we’re working together with the same values helps us to get re-centered (in the event of disagreement) and gives us the ability to remember why we can trust one another.
- Keep Your Life Story Visual
As is the case with any marriage, we’ve grown together and continue to grow each day. Putting tokens of that growth around the house serve as visual reminders of where we’ve been (and remind us that each day is a new page in our story). Among our visual treasures is the unity candle from our wedding, pictures of the kids at various stages, a few reminders of those loved ones we’ve lost and some of our favorite Bible verses. Each visual helps us to focus on the trust that we’ve built in one another and how we continue to work each day, together, to keep the love and hope for our future alive.
Are there other sure fire ways to cultivate trust in your marriage that you’ve found to be helpful? Please share what has worked for you!
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