• Acknowledge that your partner has needs that also deserve to be met. Do your best to be the one who can help them meet their needs better than anyone else. 
• When you take things personally and get your feelings hurt too easily, it closes off communication, makes problem-solving nearly impossible and leaves you both at risk. Look for the common ground instead of the insult.

Sometimes, what people really need is just the acceptance that comes with simply hearing them out and not making them wrong. 

The key to remember is that as soon as you judge someone else, you lose all ability to influence them. 

A relationship needs nurturing, care and ongoing nourishment if you want it to thrive. Too often, we get hypnotized by never-ending demands and the shiny objects of a 24/7 media world.

If you value what you have, institute a regular date night ritual or a bedtime ritual to connect.

Don't expect your partner to think like you. It's important that you give your partner room to have their own opinions and views without trying to change them or manipulate them to your way of thinking. 

An effective partnership is really about voluntarily becoming a team because you recognize that together you are better than the sum of your parts.

The solution is two people finding the strength and resolve to recapture what they once had, protect it and nurture it. Build it back to be stronger than ever and to withstand whatever comes in the future.

People who are free and make no apologies for themselves are seen as powerful and compelling. Even when two parties are totally at odds with one another, nothing has the power to reunite them more beautifully than raw vulnerability, when expressed without attack. 

There is only one constant in life. Change is inevitable. You can either grow apart slowly over time or you can honor everyone's journey. 

Find the common ground and do your best to expand it whenever possible. You and your partner don't have to be of one mind on every possible issue. But you can be of one heart if you simply love them for who they are.