Strengthening Your Relationship and the Connection Between You...

This relationship consideration speaks to strengthening your relationship and building the connection, intimacy and emotional safety between you.

Thou shalt provide a tether to thy partner all the days and nights of thy life,

and never fail to greet thy partner with good cheer. (Stan Tatkin)

I looked up the word "tether" in the dictionary to see how it's described. What I found is...

Something that's used to "hold" something in place.

Another way of saying this in terms of relationships is..

Knowing that in the eyes of the other, you matter!

Let me say that again because it's very important for couples. A sincere knowing by both partners that in the eyes of the one you love, you matter... That you and your spouse or partner have an emotional bond. That you both feel securely attached to each other. And with this, comes a feeling of emotional safety and security. Emotional safety that comes with knowing your spouse or partner is on this journey with you, cares for you, and delights to be in relationship with you. A significant other that greets you with welcoming eyes and arms lets you know you're significant and makes "coming home" a place you want to go. Staying tethered to one another lets you know that you both "hold" each other near and dear.

Strengthening Your Relationship Tip...

One lovely way to put this relationship consideration into action is to create morning and evening rituals that allow you and your significant other time to connect. I mention morning and evening specifically since these are the times we wake to greet each other and end the day with each other. While these are specific and personal to you and your relationship, here are some general ideas to consider creating rituals of connection around:

Create a morning ritual around waking up
Create a morning ritual around breakfast or getting out the door for work, or getting the kids off to school or daycare
Create a ritual around reconnecting - times when you come home from work, school, etc.
Create an evening ritual around dinner
Create an evening ritual around getting ready for bed