The Importance of Gratitude for a Hope-Filled Marriage

Do you feel like your home is full of constant nagging? Do you work hard but you feel your spouse doesn’t appreciate you or acknowledge anything you do for the relationship? Do you just feel alone in your marriage and your spouse doesn’t seem to want to make any effort? Maybe you feel that there is just no more hope left for the two of you.

As we get comfortable in our relationships and establish a routine, it is common for couples to start taking each other for granted. Often, it is the small gestures of daily life that maintains a connection between a couple. If your acts of kindness each day are looked at as “duties” and become expected, then your relationship will start to suffer.

However, there is hope! Expressing gratitude to your spouse can lead to a longer lasting and more committed relationship. Gratitude demonstrates your appreciation for your partner and fulfills their need to be needed.  By accomplishing this, gratitude generates more connectedness, happiness, and satisfaction for both of you. Often, when you show gratitude toward your spouse, you also increase the chances that they will act warm and loving toward you. Furthermore, when you feel grateful for your partner, you are more likely to increase your loving behaviors toward them and to value your relationship.

It is important to remember that you need to show gratitude by appreciating who your spouse is as a person, not just for what they do.  For example, you can be grateful that your spouse took your kids to school and packed their lunch—and appreciate their thoughtfulness in noticing how busy you were. Ultimately, when you become more aware of the positive things your spouse does, you will naturally increase your gratitude for them.

3 ways you can increase gratitude (and hope) in your marriage:

•Show your spouse that you are thinking of them: a text, a short email, or a handwritten note.

•Compliment your partner for a trait that you appreciate and find attractive, lovable, or admirable.

•Do something thoughtful and unexpected for your spouse. Don’t wait for your anniversary or until your spouse does something first. Find a genuine way to do something special. It can be as small as breaking the routine by taking on a chore or task that is usually your partner’s responsibility.

Note: If you still feel that there is just no hope for your marriage and the hurt is too deep to restore the relationship through gratitude, reach out to Anchored Hope Counseling today. At Anchored Hope, I can help you restore gratitude in your relationship and rebuild your marriage through personalized techniques.