- Communicate frequently. One of the first steps to a shutdown is a lack of communication with one another. Many times, communication is happening but it is with someone else or even yourself. Thoughts and emotions run wild, and questions go unanswered or answered by the wrong person. Communicate with your spouse even when it is hard.
- Tune out negative influences. While some friends and some people may have good counsel and good help, there are some influences that can speed up the process of a relationship shutdown. Even the media and TV. If the influence is not encouraging your marriage to stay together, then maybe you need to shut that down, not the marriage.
- Tune in positive influences. Do you know other couples who have made it through a possible relationship meltdown? What about counseling, or just information that encourages strong marriages, restoring broken marriages, and commitment to marriage.
- Eliminate a relationship shutdown as an option. Have you ever been in a situation with limited options? Or been faced with a deadline? When you know the only option to get something done is “A,” then you find a way. The same with a deadline. The project you put off until the 11th hour miraculously gets done. Eliminate the option of a shutdow, and make a successful relationship your only option. See how that changes things.
Tips to Avoid a Relationship Shutdown! was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
