Let’s talk happiness. As you walked down the aisle and said “I DO!” you believed that this thing called marriage was going to always be happy and easy, right?…

Then sometime later, it changed.

It got hard and required work. You learned to build new habits to accommodate your new normal… both good and bad habits.

It’s no easy feat to break the bad habits.

Sacrifices have to be made and forgiveness offered. In any relationship, it takes much more than just good luck to survive, it takes practice with loads and loads of grace.  It takes recognizing areas you can improve on and then doing something about it. Only you can make your marriage more.

Can you guarantee happiness and all the cheer if you avoid these bad habits listed below that happy couples should never do? Well no, but it’s a good start!

Happy couples don’t gossip about their relationship to friends and family.

No matter the good, bad or ugly of your marriage, skip out on talking details with your BFF while grabbing coffee, or with your family at Thanksgiving dinner. When issues arise, happy couples resolve the issue with each other directly, leaving friends and family out of it and gossip free.

Keep the talk about your spouse honest but guarded. The conversations you have about your relationship with others should be energizing, positive and consistent in respecting your spouse with all that’s said.

 

Happy couples don’t stop dating.

You may have been married for over 10 years, but when was the last time you turned off your iphones and had dinner together – no kids! If you neglect your relationship, your relationship will neglect you too – it takes time to keep a relationship strong. With busy schedules and a hundred other things grabbing for attention we often forget to enjoy the company we have right next to us. Dating your spouse may be super awkward at first, but over time it creates a culture of happiness and builds your relationship up.

 

Happy couples don’t nag each other.

Plain and simple, cut the criticism and start encouraging! We shared a whole bunch on encouraging and praising your spouse over here (5 Ways to Praise Your Husband and 55 Ways to Show Your Wife You Love Her)

The more you nag and criticize and faster your happiness and relationship breaks down. By continually communicating in a negative tone, you’re setting the development of your relationship to be negative as well.

Cheer each other on. Having an appreciation for how incredible your partner is at this, that or the other. Leads your relationship to a good place.  Celebrate accomplishments and dream big together about the next things to come.

 

Happy couples ignore Hollywood’s ideal marriage.

Pop culture has got is all wrong to say the least…. Turn on any TV show and it’s filled with the happy and perfect TV couples. NEWSFLASH! That’s not real life. TV marriage look a lot like love, happiness, consistent communication and perfection. Real life marriage looks like grace, mess ups, failure, struggles and forgiveness.

Stand together and don’t let outsiders call the shots in your marriage. Make your own love rules and dreams for happiness… then, chase after them! Whatever your dream marriage is, we’re pretty sure Hollywood is not showing it on primetime, so don’t stress about what others think or how others are doing their marriage – you do your marriage, you do what works!

 

Happy couples don’t ignore their finances.

With Jeff as a financial advisor, we sure do know the stress that finances can put on a marriage. One of the main things we do to not ignore our finances is set goals and then follow up with them to evaluate our progress. It keeps us responsible together on what’s being spent and how we’re saving too.

 

Have other ideas of things happy couples never do? Comment below!