Do You Appreciate Your Partner?

One of the things I feel we don’t do enough of in life is appreciate what we have. Whether it’s material things or even, and especially, the people in our lives, we are often wanting something more, better, bigger and forget to be thankful and appreciative for what we have.

When it comes to our relationships, it is so easy for the days to go by without us appreciating each other and taking each other for granted. Especially when you have kids, we get so caught up in the everyday tasks that need to be done, that we often forget to appreciate our partners, for whatever small thing they might have done.

It’s also easy to focus on the negative and look at what’s not being done, and fail to see the positive and what is being done.

At one point in our relationship, we had a practice we would do every night once we were in bed before going to sleep. We would tell each other 3 things that we appreciated about the other that day. It could have been something as mundane as tidying up after supper, the cup of tea that was made, or a certain characteristic we appreciated in the other. (This practice later inspired us to do the same thing with our girls. From a young age, we would light a candle next to their bed before going to sleep and each have a turn to say what we were thankful for from the day. Some of the things my girls say and have said are really beautiful.)

It really helped to end the day on a positive note and also to reflect back on the day and be able to find something to appreciate. Some days were harder than others but we always managed to find something. In fact, the days where we really struggled to find something to appreciate in each other, was exactly the reason why it was such an important thing to do. Hmmm…I think we should start this practice again…

Try it with your loved one. I’d love to know how it goes.

PS. Please don’t be shy to comment, I’d love to hear your experiences as well.