5 Ways To Find Harmony In Your Relationship

“Truth is everybody is going to hurt you: you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.”

— Bob Marley

Any couple that has been in a long-term relationship will tell you "relationships are hard work."

There will be moments when you question the viability of your relationship, regardless of how perfect things may have been in the past.

If you find yourself in this situation, it is important to recognize that the only path to harmony is accepting discord and finding ways to transform it into love and joy.

Today, we will highlight five key ways to cultivate harmony in your relationship.
 

Practicing Mindfulness

A mindfulness practice is instrumental for cultivating and maintaining a healthy relationship.

By practicing mindfulness, we strengthen our ability to be present with our partner -- increasing their and our feelings of joy and love.

Being present also enables us to be more aware of our partner’s suffering.  This awareness will make us less likely to overreact when they act from a place of suffering. If we can maintain awareness when our partner is suffering, we will be more inclined and able to support them in their time of need.

Ensuring our partner feels loved and supported is key to harmony in our relationship.
 

Communication

It is impossible to overstate the importance of communication in relationships. 

Fully disclosing and listening to the causes of each other's suffering is the only way to work through the differences that we have with our partner.

Listening is crucial because we often spend so much time trying to prove our point that we fail to recognize—and eliminate—the actions that may be perpetuating our partner's suffering.

Effective communication also allows us to ensure that we have a firm grasp on reality; not allowing our decisions to be based on the "untrue negative stories" that we sometimes tell ourselves.
 

Adapting to Change

Growth and change are inevitable in a healthy relationship.

While we all know that we cannot grow without confronting the unknown, many of us are deathly uncomfortable with change.

This discomfort causes us to respond with the fight-or-flight mode; we either fight our partner, or we run. When we respond by going into fight-or-flight mode, we have zero chance of bringing harmony into our relationship.

We must accept that our relationship will change. And, by practicing mindfulness, we can stay calm and determine the best way to adapt to change.
 

Keeping Perspective

Maintaining perspective on the significance of our differences is important.

When we lack perspective, an insignificant difference has the potential to become something much bigger.

To safeguard against this, we must always ask ourselves if the issue is important enough to have a conflict over.

We are often better off accepting our partner as they are than arguing over something that is inessential to the health of our relationship.

It is much easier to maintain harmony in our relationships when we do not argue over small things.
 

Encouraging Freedom

When we are single, we feel that we have complete control of our lives.

When two people decide to share their lives with each other, it is important for both of them to relinquish this notion of control.

If one person dictates all aspects of the relationship, the other person will feel oppressed.  Oppression is unsustainable over the long-term because people eventually resent their lack of freedom.

When we choose to share our life’s journey with each other, each of us must give our partner the freedom to follow the desires of their heart.

Disclaimer: If you are in an abusive relationship, please seek help immediately.