The New Year is a natural time for new beginnings. Those of you in relationships know just how much work it takes to keep emotional, sexual, and spiritual unions alive and fresh. Here are some ideas that you might consider for keeping relationships healthy. In the coming weeks, we will take a deeper look at each.

Reignite Your Sexual Relationship

Honesty is the key to everything, but sex is such a charged subject, even with a partner in a monogamous relationship, that it can be difficult to maintain frank communication. Why not start the year with a casual conversation (no need to get too heavy) about where you and your partner are sexually?  

Are you having as much sex as you would like and what is the quality of the sex? Have things grown mundane and are there some new things you would both like to try? I know this might seem terrifying, but as people in relationships change and grow, our sexual lives needs to do the same.

Reignite Your Emotional Relationship

As we human beings spend time together, we accumulate a wealth of small wrongs and accompanying resentments. These often petty complaints can cause us to begin to withdraw emotionally from our spouse, which seems easier than confronting them with our anger. This process can lead to an avalanche of ill will down the road. I believe that this is, in fact, why so many of us fall out of love eventually.

Why not try a new tactic this year by clearing up a few of the grudges you have been nursing against your significant other?  Rather than attacking the other person, take a look at what part you may have played in creating the problem; you may even have participated in a similar behavior. If you begin a discussion with your partner by acknowledging your part in a problem, it will instantly defuse the situation.

Reignite Your Spiritual Relationship

One thing that initially draws many couples together is a shared spiritual belief system or membership in the same religious organization. Why not strengthen and expand that bond this year? We spend so much time on physical matters - fixing the house, raising the kids, working out - that it can be easy to forget that our spiritual life also needs maintenance.

If you are a religious person, perhaps you can turn to your spiritual advisor for suggestions of how to explore something new with your spouse.  For those who prefer spirituality to religion, a night spent together at a meditation center or in a yoga class can be a valuable addition to the weekly schedule.  And regardless of your beliefs, walking quietly in nature with a loved one is always the best date.

Getting Specific

Over the next few weeks, we will dig a bit deeper with a range of practical applications for each of these areas of growth.  Rather than feeling overwhelmed, consider the possibility that these new activities might actually decrease your stress and enrich your home life.

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The Principles
by Patrick Moore
Available now on Lulu.com, Amazon.Com, and BarnesandNoble.com.