What makes a healthy relationship ?

Communication & Sharing: The most important part of any healthy relationship between two people is being able to talk and listen to one another. You and the other person can figure out what your common interests are. You can share your feelings with the other person and trust that they will be there to listen and support you. In healthy relationships, people don't lie. Communication is based on honesty and trust. By listening carefully and sharing your thoughts and feelings with another person, you show them that they are an important part of your life.

Respect and Trust: In healthy relationships, you learn to respect and trust important people in your life. Disagreements may still happen, but you learn to stay calm and talk about how you feel. Talking calmly helps you to understand the real reason for not getting along, and it's much easier to figure out how to fix it. In healthy relationships, working through disagreements often makes the relationship stronger. In healthy relationships, people respect each other for who they are. This includes respecting and listening to yourself and your feelings so you can set boundaries and feel comfortable. You will find that you learn to understand experiences and feelings of others as well as having them understand your experiences and feelings. Trust is everything. Without trust there will be no relationship. You can have a shell of a relationship but there will be nothing truly there. Think about all the people you know that question their spouse about every little detail of the day. This is not trust. Trust is vital for any relationship to become strong and everlasting. 

Honesty. Where does a relationship go without honesty? No one truly wants a relationship based on lies. Even white lies will eventually turn into great big lies that forever need to be covered up. Be honest with your spouse at all costs. I can personally see no reason for any lie in a relationship. Lies are like a poisonous gas that will silently kill your relationship. 

Make and keep clear agreements. Respect the differences between yourself and your partner. Do not expect your partner to agree with you on every issue. Reach a mutual agreement or plan, and then commit to it. If you say you're going to meet your partner for lunch at noon, be on time or call if you absolutely must be late. If you agree to have a monogamous relationship, keep that agreement. Keeping agreements shows respect for yourself and your partner, as well as creating a sense of trust and safety.

Forgive one another. Forgiveness is a decision of letting go of the past and focusing on the present. It's about taking control of your current situation. Talk about the issue and try to reach a mutual agreement on how to handle the situation in the future and then commit to it. If you can't reach an agreement, it's a bad sign. If you learn from the past and do not repeat the same pattern, it's a good sign. It's the only way to prevent yourself from more disappointment, anger or resentment. Respect your partner, when your partner tells you to leave them alone, do give him or her the time and space.

Appreciate yourself and your partner. In the midst of an argument, it can be difficult to find something to appreciate. Start by generating appreciation in moments of non-stress, and that way when you need to be able to do it during a stressful conversation, it will be easier. One definition of appreciation is to be sensitively aware so you don't have to be sugar-coating anything; so tell your beloved that you love him or her, and that you don't want to argue but to talk and make it better.

Admit your mistakes and say sorry. One possible way to do this is to talk after having a misunderstanding or argument. For example you can ask your partner to give you some time to think of the wrong and right things that you and he/she did. Ask your partner to do the same thing and talk to them when you are both ready. Ask your partner to give you time to talk and explain to them why you were angry, the wrong things you did, the things they did that you did not like and what you would like them to change. Ask your partner to do the same thing and give them a fair chance to talk and explain also. This will make your relationship stronger and help strengthen the communication between you and your partner.

Don’t Forget to Laugh: Humor is the great conflict de-escalater and a wonderful release. I’m always encouraged by couples I’m working with who laugh a lot, have private jokes, pet names for each other or whatever! If you lighten up in your relationship it will pay great dividend

Make Love. No matter how much life gets in the way make time for intimacy between you and your spouse. It has been said that your sex life with your spouse directly corresponds with your success rate as a couple. It is true. When you are intimate with your spouse , be in that moment. Don't be a million miles away in your mind, turn yourself over completely to the intimacy.

A healthy relationship will last forever.....