Keep, toss and buy

EVERY YEAR, people are encouraged to do a little spring cleaning around the house — specifically with their wardrobe. Well, since it’s spring, we have decided to shed some light on ways you could do some spring cleaning in your relationship.

First thing first. Like clothing, you both will have to figure out what to keep, toss and what to buy.

Keep

Keep the friendship within your relationship. Deep rooted friendship should be the solid foundation for any relationship. It’s helps that when the going gets tough, you are sure that your partner in crime is by your side, cheering you on with your successes, and supporting you through every setback. Keep your friends outside of your relationship Sometimes you get so caught up with your new best friends that you forget to foster the friendships outside of your union. Have a ladies or a fellas night every now and then — give your significant other some breathing room — you will appreciate each other even more in the end. Keep date night Life can get so hectic that you forget to nurture your relationship with date night. But this is definitely a keeper. Remember how exciting it was when you first met? Recreate that with spontaneous date nights, and remember to keep your word — don’t break it. Keep daily romantic rituals Romantic gestures like love notes, hugs and kisses before you leave the house, surprise calls or texts during the day, running a bath with candles after a long day or even offering a foot rub or massage, is a great way to maintain the strong connection you both share. Besides, these can lead to even bigger action that you don’t want to miss out on. Now who doesn’t want to keep that? *Wink* Keep the line of communication open. This is very important. Blocking the wall of communication will only create a major roadblock in your relationship. It’s only natural for people to change over time, so it’s great when you keep that line open so that you both have a greater understanding of each other. Keep individual lives separate. If you had your hobbies before your partner came into the mix, keep them. Even if you developed them during the relationship, keep them. It’s healthy to maintain a life outside of him or her. That way you get to do what you love and have a greater appreciation for who you love, connecting on a deeper level. In this case, time apart can be good for the heart.

Toss

Toss being petty. Most times being petty is the trigger for most arguments, and once you pull a petty move on your love, that bullet will cause major damages, piercing the heart. Don’t be trigger happy with your pettiness. Calm down and discuss the matter at hand in a rational way. Toss jealousy. Jealousy is the root of all evil when it comes to affairs of the heart. A little jealousy isn’t bad, but when it reaches a new level of annoyance and borderlines bodily harm to anyone who even glances your way, then Houston -we have a problem. Drop that in the toss pile and just get rid of it. Toss procrastination. Procrastination is bad enough in other areas of your life, but in a relationship when you have to consider another person, it can be a ‘couple killer’. If you make a promise, try your very best to maintain a high level of responsibility and don’t procrastinate in the process. Toss the baggage Toss those pesky ex’s who live in regret that they lost you. Also, toss the baggage that you came into the relationship with. Don’t use that baggage to judge your current relationship. Be caution, not paranoid. Toss negative energy You or your love might be negative and misery loves company, so it will more than likely affect how you both relate to each other. Toss that aside and be positive. Negative energy from unsupportive friends or family members can cause a real strain in sinking your relationship. The waves are choppy enough as it is — stay afloat by casting their negativity aside and focusing on just the two of you.

Toss what doesn’t work anymore. You know how they say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it? Maybe in this case you need to fix what doesn’t work before it breaks the relationship completely.

Buy

Buy time to sort out conflict. Conflict resolution is essential in maintaining happiness in a relationship. The reality of the situation is this — if you don’t find the time to sort out the issues of the relationship, then they’re going to build and may eventually push you over the edge. So buy time to sort out your conflict so you can get back to living your happily ever after. Buy into new adventures. That baecation you always wanted to take? Road trip you wanted to go on? New and exciting restaurants you wanted to try? Be the Dora to his Diego, and between the two of you, invest some of your hard earned money into enjoying life together. After all, you only live once, and if you can’t spoil each other, then what’s the point really? Buy little gifts for him or her. Give gifts that will touch his heart, things that he will appreciate- something that reminds him of the first day; his favourite cologne, a shirt in his favourite colour. Fellas, if she’s into roses or jewellery, then treat her. Not a girlie girl? Well you know her best, so give her what she loves. If she’s your queen, then treat her like royalty — she surely deserves it. Who knows? You may be buying the biggest rock of them all!

Buy into the pursuit. Comfort zone is not a good thing when you have been together for a while. That leads to complacency. So, men, treat your wife or girlfriend like you are meeting her for the first time. Wine and dine her like you never did before to add that well needed spice to your dish of love. Ladies, feel free to reciprocate to charm your way back into your man’s heart all over again.

Buy into the fantasy. We can get so busy with our daily lives that we forget to feed into our fantasy. So, purchase those lingeries, the costumes for role play; sensual oils; sex games and toys. Get sexy with it and just explore the ‘known’ in an innovative light of enchantment.