Maintaining a loving relationship is hard enough. And lockdowns due to COVID-19 have only increased relationship stress for couples across the globe.
A relationship involves understanding and loving someone who’s just as complex, unique, and admirable as you are. There will be ups and downs, but at the end of the day, the aim is to make sure the two of you are in emotional harmony.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, couples across the world have chosen to isolate themselves at home, leaving more time than ever to each other. While this can be quite a new experience, it can come with its dose of issues.
But, like any relationship struggle, the aim for couples is to work on their problems together. And end the day knowing that things will get better.
Here are a few tips to maintain a loving relationship during COVID 19:
Engage in activities together
Due to social distancing guidelines, you’ve got a lot of time to kill with your significant other. Here’s where you have the chance to make things interesting by engaging in activities together.
The first step is to find an activity the two of you enjoy close to equally. It could be watching sports or rom-coms. It could be cooking a dish or decorating the house. Doing this will give the two of you a stronger feeling of togetherness, and it can be a great stressbuster.
Of course, you know better about the activities you and your partner might enjoy together, so why not make time for that?
Express your emotions
There will be times when the two of you will barely get along. And during a lockdown, those disagreements can easily get amplified since there isn’t much going on anyways. The last thing you’d want to do is bottle up your emotions and hide your feelings from your partner.
Keeping this in mind, take time to let your partner know how you feel, whether positive or negative. And let them occasionally know how much they mean to you, and how you appreciate the privilege of being so close to them.
Expand your support system
On many occasions, you will experience struggles either from your relationship or due to other factors. And especially during a lockdown, it might feel more convenient than ever to just lean on your significant other for your emotional needs.
But, remember that they’re human too and they’re coping with struggles of their own. This is why it’s important to have a support system that extends beyond your partner.
Through these times, make sure that you stay connected with your friends and family members. Reach out to them not just to ensure they’re well, but to give yourself new perspectives on your struggles.
Mark boundaries between alone time and time together
Couples need time together, but they also need time for themselves. During a lockdown, since most of the time is spent at home, if you’re living with your partner, that means entire days spent with each other’s presence.
While initially exciting, this might lead to you or your partner losing interest in the relationship or noticing minute flaws in your partner, which could get easily amplified since you’re at home all day. This is why you’ve got to take breaks and create time for yourself.
Having that alone time will help you focus on activities that you’d like to do by yourself. You could also use that time to meditate or reflect on your day.
Doing this will help you appreciate the time spent with your partner even more, and it will give the two of you a lot more to connect and bond over.
Be patient with your partners physical needs
While staying at home with your partner to stay safe can seem like a long romantic vacation, it’s easy to try relying on sex to tackle any relationship struggles that pop up.
The truth is, during these times, both you and your partner are bound to be distracted by a bunch of things. From work and academic stress to the constant pursuit of finding personal time, understand that such factors can interfere with sexual desire. This is why it’s important to be patient with your partner and participate in sex in a mutually fulfilling way.
Conclusion
While these tips apply to everyone, I also understand that no relationship is the same. We’re all unique, and a combination of two unique beings will always be different from any other such combination. And adding factors such as a lockdown can incite different reactions in couples.
Keeping all this in mind, couples must look after each other’s emotional needs, and understand each other’s thresholds. The key to maintaining a loving relationship lies in developing a mutual understanding of each other, and this applies even more during the coronavirus pandemic.
