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3 Keys To Lifelong Love

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3 Keys To Lifelong Love
This Valentine's Day, give your partner what they truly want. The recipe for domestic bliss!

Poems have been written about it. Songs have been sung about it.  Researchers spend hours toiling in their labs trying to come up with a formula for it. However, the question has remained a mystery until now. We perpetually ask and wait with baited breath for the answer to the question, “How do we keep love alive?”


Despite pessimistic rants stating that it’s an impossible feat, enduring love CAN be your reality. It boils down to a combination of three key components and your ultimate ability to master them. Rejoice in this exciting news but roll up your sleeves and get ready to do the hard work, because nothing worth having comes easy.

More from YourTango: Say Yes to the Sex: How to Keep the Spark Alive


Daily, you are bombarded by a litany of partner possibilities, existing to tempt and tantalize, questioning, testing and challenging the very foundation of your relationship. Flirtation, glances and smiles shoot like rapid fire.  Only the most dedicated few will make it through this gauntlet, to return to the safety and pleasure of lifelong love. Interested in becoming one of the successful ones? Build a wall around your relationship to keep those forces at bay, by internalizing the following three keys:


1. Expressed Appreciation - No person in the world can argue the power of outward appreciation.  It’s not enough to think it. Your partner has to hear it, by whatever means are most effective for them.


By acknowledging who your mate is and what they bring to the table, it creates an internal desire for them to keep offering up their best selves because they are perpetually being rewarded for their efforts.


How to do it: First, think about the specific, little things you love about your special person and start developing ideas about how to convey it. Will it be through verbal expression? Hand written notes or sweet texts? Small tokens of affection? Start getting creative. A little goes a long way.


2. Respect - When you illustrate respect, every decision you make creates the opportunity for a bonding moment and as a result, you act out powerful and successful strategies for maintaining your strength as a couple.  You listen to their opinion, communicate when you’re having issues, avoid the attractive co-worker that could become a stumbling block in your relationship and continually try to put their needs above your own. 

More from YourTango: Why You Should Be Listening To Your Children…Now


Bottom line: By showing respect, you are demonstrating that your loved one is of the greatest value in your life and who doesn’t want to feel treasured this way? Need further proof of just how vital this key is, to a long term relationship? Ask yourself what you would be willing to do for your mate if they made you feel this special? Or better yet, what wouldn’t you be willing to do? Enough said.


How to do it: If the above concept is new to you, start working on developing the following paradigm: “If it’s important to my partner, it’s important to me.” Instantly, your choices, reactions and actions change for the better. 

Article contributed by
Advanced Member

Allison Cohen, M.A., MFT

Counselor/Therapist

Allison Cohen, M.A., MFT

TARZANA, CA & BEVERLY HILLS, CA

818-971-7155

www.LifeIssuesPsychotherapy.com

Location: Beverly Hills, CA
Credentials: LMFT, MA, MFT
Specialties: Communication Problems, Couples/Marital Issues, Life Transitions
Other Articles/News by Allison Cohen, M.A., MFT:

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