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The calming presence of a person by your side at every difficult turn in life is what you need. Someone who’s there for you, cheers you up at times when all you want to do is cry and who understands you is a life partner you indeed need with you, at all times. Love is the bond that connects us all but finding a life partner can be incredibly difficult.

But that’s what people say: it’ll take time, it’ll be difficult but when you find them, it’s a breathtaking moment with inexplicable feelings. You have just got to find them. In account of this, here are some things you need to keep in mind while looking for ‘the one.’

Find someone who you can connect with easily

It is very important to choose somebody with who you can easily strike a conversation. This way, you can enjoy doing things and talking about them together without getting bored.

Potential partner with same interests

Selecting someone who shares a lot of common interests with you will work in your favour. Remember that all your interests don’t really have to be the same, but some would do. Says clinical psychologist and relationship expert Seema Hingorrany, “When you decide to spend your life with someone, you must look at things that the two of you would love to do together. For example, if you are a movie buff, you would ideally like to be with someone who enjoys movies as well. This will make your life interesting.”

Consider your partner’s intellect

If you are a laid-back person and your partner is an over-achiever, that could lead to a threat in your marriage. You must see eye to eye on how both of you are able to think and process things.

It’s okay to have standards

While choosing a life partner, you need to consider your and your family’s standards. Though it’s okay to choose someone who probably does not belong to the same strata of society as yours, make sure that he/she’s not completely off the mark.

You should have respect for one another

You obviously cannot spend your life with someone who has no respect for you or your dreams/goals or your personality. So, choose someone who will acknowledge you for the rest of your life.

Is your potential partner trustworthy?

In this day and age, it is extremely important to choose someone you can trust. You definitely cannot lead a happy marriage if you cannot trust each other or have faith.

Spend time together

Just as important as it is to have similar interests, it is also crucial to be with someone who gives you enough time and who you would love to spend time with.

Source: TimesofIndia

First, congratulations on your recent engagement! What follows next? With the excitement from your engagement, it might overwhelm you with how and where to begin your planning; and that is very understandable. Especially, since it will be the biggest event, you will ever have to plan.

From my experience, here are four steps to take before you start your wedding planning.

You may have helped a friend plan their wedding day or spent hours on Pinterest creating your dream board, but that doesn’t mean you have to tackle it solo. There are so many different reasons why hiring a wedding planner can make your planning experience better. Booking vendors, organizing your RSVPs, managing your budget and planning every other aspect of your big day can be a lot of work. Add in your normal day-to-day responsibilities, and it’s enough to make even the most organized to-be-weds stressed. Luckily, working with a pro can take a huge weight off your and your partner’s shoulders, leaving you time to enjoy the process.

No one enters a marriage expecting to become a negative statistic. Marriage can be hard work, but there are many things you can do to enhance the odds of success. The little things matter. Small gestures and habits lead to success.

Help your marriage to thrive:

1. Keep your commitments. It doesn’t matter whether you promised to take out the trash, pick up the dry cleaning, or be home by 7:00. Do it.
2. Leave the past alone. Bringing up mistakes from the past only reopens old wounds. Leave the past in the past.
3. Avoid interrupting your partner. Take a deep breath and listen until your partner is finished. You’ll get your turn soon enough.
4. Be grateful. Keep a diary and list at least one thing about your partner that makes you feel grateful. It might be her smile or the fact that he always makes you laugh. The simple act of looking for positive traits in your spouse will change your attitude.
5. Do something fun together. As often as possible, spend time together doing something that you both enjoy. Sharing good times is a great way to become closer. Sit down together and make a list of activities you both love to do.
6. Avoid keeping score. Everyone has their ups and downs. Things are never exactly 50-50, but things have a way of evening out over time. Keeping score results in resentment.
7. Let go of the small matters. Divorce is often caused by petty disagreements. If you can agree on the big stuff, the little stuff is merely a distraction.
8. Give your partner some privacy. Avoid snooping unnecessarily. Stay out of your partner’s email account and give them the space they require to be an individual.
9. Address behaviors. Avoid attacking your spouse. It’s more effective to request that your spouse put her dirty dishes in the sink than to ask her why she’s such a slob. Address the behavior and avoid making personal attacks.
10. Have a planned date-night. At least twice a month, get out of the house and go on a real date. Take turns making plans and surprise each other.
11. Be respectful in public. Ridiculing or insulting your spouse is never acceptable, but it’s far more damaging when done in front of others. If you must be negative, wait until you’re back home.
12. Ask yourself what you can do to strengthen the relationship. It’s challenging, if not impossible, to change someone else. However, you can change yourself.
13. Focus on the positive. Some relationship experts believe that divorce results from a decrease in positive events, rather than an increase in negative events. Celebrate whenever something good happens!
14. Give at least five compliments for each criticism you give. Social scientists believe that each criticism requires five compliments to undo the damage. Be positive.
15. Realize that your spouse isn’t responsible for your happiness. Most find that their level of happiness eventually returns to the pre-marriage level. There’s much more to happiness than being married.

A happy marriage is the result of valuing and respecting each other every day. Tending to your marriage is like tending to a garden. It’s necessary to pull the weeds, but do so with a smile on your face. Make your marriage a priority. Give your marriage and your spouse the attention they deserve.