5 Easy (and Cheap!) Ways to Hack Your Relationship.
As I lay here typing with sore back and legs, atop my comfy mattress from Soreback's Mattress Company, a few things have come to mind about the relationship that I'm in. My girlfriend would be the first to tell you that I am perfect and have never done one thing wrong or ever said the wrong thing…. Hrmm… Even I know that's a bag of sh*t. Seriously, though, thinking about relationships and what keeps them going got me to asking some questions.
Why in the hell is this relationship working in the first place? Sure, we like each other and can put up with each others' crap, for the moment. However, I think there's some things we do and things I've noticed from other friends in relationships that maintain forward momentum. It's very easy to relax and become complacent when things are going well. Why rock the boat? You don't need to rock said boat, per se, but you can do some simple things to inspire new and, perhaps, spontaneous fun in your relationship.
- Teach Your Partner Something New – You're never too old a dog to learn something new. Recently, I sat down and taught my girl how to set up her blog and have given her tips and advice to help get her going. In fact, you can find a couple of posts on here from her… But I'm not telling you which ones! I'm evil like that. Another thing I did was I showed her some nifty financial tools to manage her money in a more organized fashion.
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Challenge Your Partner – This is something my gal does very well. We both like our computers; I work on mine a lot due to the nature of my work. It's quite easy to do this most any night. She's very good about getting me to set things down and doing something else. That woman made me hike 12 miles recently. My body hated me for it, but I really, really had a good time and it was a challenge. This past weekend she helped me clean and re-arrange my room (now, hold on before you go getting all crazy; that's not a foot in the door, but another post certainly). It was a pain in the ass and I hated doing it while we were in the middle of it; but now that the hard work is done, I totally love the end result. I'm just sore now… Owww.
3. Go Somewhere Different – I have a friend who takes his wife somewhere new at least a couple times a month. Typically, it will be a new hiking trail; they're not hiking aficionados mind you, they like doing active things. Sometimes they will checkout a theater they have never been to; perhaps a different restaurant. Nothing too fancy, but certainly different and new. Variety is the spice of life… Well, except to those that fear change and fight it tooth and nail. If you're that kind of person, you may want to skip over this suggestion.
4. Take a Ferris Bueller Day – Take a day off. Take a day off in the middle of the week; or take a Monday or Friday, it's your call. Do something in the middle of the day that you wouldn't ordinarily think to do. If you have a baseball team near by, catch a game. Go bowling. Or even engage in some public afternoon delight somewhere busy. I've got one of these coming up myself.
5. Make Something or Do a Project Together – I'm not talking about love making; that comes later on, kids. What I mean is work on a project together or make something. It could be as simple as making dinner, or breakfast together. Do you have something sitting around that needs to be assembled? Could you go for rearranging your bedroom (Let me stop here. Yes, I said “rearrange” we men don't DO bedroom make overs or personal make overs, we just buy new sh*t and I'm done)? Fun, short term (even if exhausting) projects keep creativity flowing and keep a good synergy flowing between a couple.
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Great article. Those things apply to married life too!
Thanks Pete. Some feel I don't give enough love to the marrying types out there. I definitely wanted to write something that spoke to that crowd too.
Nice list! I like #3 personally. #1 would just make me feel like a small child again—I have a hard time with lessons (which explains my long career in dating).
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..Are niche online dating sites a good thing? =-.
Wonderfully sweet and truthful, as always. Your girlfriend is a lucky woman. 🙂
I couldn't agree MORE about keeping things interesting and going new places. After all, my most recent long-term relationship lasted four years and the surprises NEVER ended. It was a beautiful thing, that is for sure, and I intend on continuing the same trend in my next long-term (hopefully forever) relationship.
.-= Zoë´s last blog ..“The Man’s Guide to Love”: A Review (part 2) =-.
Thanks for the wonderful comments, ladies.
@kelly – Dammit! That's it, I'm going to teach you a lesson: How to do the Hulk Hogan Leg Drop!
@Zoe – As always, I appreciate your kind compliments. It's a marvel to think how happy couples together for years and even decades manage to keep things going and fresh; it's truly inspiring.
.-= alex´s last blog ..Rooting the N1 on Android 2.1 =-.
Oh I could write a 200 item long list on this:
Take some quiet time and talk about your day.
Write little notes, one for each way he or she drives you crazy.
Feed each other grapes.
Recreate your partner’s favorite romantic movie scene.
Write a love letter. Yep lots of ways to be romantic on the cheap and keep things new. Good work
.-= David´s last blog ..Break Free and Leave the World Behind =-.