What makes a healthy love relationship?
- Staying involved with each other. Some relationships get stuck in peaceful coexistence, but without truly relating to each other and working together. While it may seem stable on the surface, lack of involvement and communication increases distance. When you need to talk about something important, the connection and understanding may no longer be there.
- Getting through conflict. Some couples talk things out quietly, while others may raise their voices and passionately disagree. The key in a strong relationship, though, is not to be fearful of conflict. You need to be safe to express things that bother you without fear of retaliation, and be able to resolve conflict without humiliation, degradation, or insisting on being right.
- Keeping outside relationships and interests alive. No one person can meet all of our needs, and expecting too much from someone can put a lot of unhealthy pressure on a relationship. Having friends and outside interests not only strengthens your social network, but brings new insights and stimulation to the relationship, too.
- Communicating. Honest, direct communication is a key part of any relationship. When both people feel comfortable expressing their needs, fears, and desires, trust and bonds are strengthened. Nonverbal cues—body language like eye contact, leaning forward or away, or touching someone’s arm—are critical to communication.
Relationship advice tip 1: Keep physical intimacy alive
Touch is a fundamental part of human existence. Studies on infants have shown the importance of regular, loving touch and holding on brain development. These benefits do not end in childhood. Life without physical contact with others is a lonely life indeed.Studies have shown that affectionate touch actually boosts the body’s levels of oxytocin, a hormone that influences bonding and attachment. In a committed relationship between two adult partners, physical intercourse is often a cornerstone of the relationship. However, intercourse should not be the only method of physical intimacy in a relationship. Regular, affectionate touch—holding hands, hugging, or kissing—is equally important.
Be sensitive to what your partner likes. While touch is a key part of a healthy relationship, it’s important to take some time to find out what your partner really likes. Unwanted touching or inappropriate overtures can make the other person tense up and retreat—exactly what you don’t want.
Relationship advice tip 2: Spend quality time together
You probably have fond memories of when you were first dating your loved one. Everything may have seemed new and exciting, and you may have spent hours just chatting together or coming up with new, exciting things to try. However, as time goes by, children, demanding jobs, long commutes, different hobbies and other obligations can make it hard to find time together. It’s critical for your relationship, though, to make time for yourselves. If you don’t have quality time, communication and understanding start to erode.Couples are often more fun and playful in the early stages of a relationship. However, this playful attitude can sometimes be forgotten as life challenges or old resentments start getting in the way. Keeping a sense of humor can actually help you get through tough times, reduce stress, and work through issues more easily.
Focus on having fun together
- Think about playful ways to surprise your partner, like bringing flowers or a favorite movie home unexpectedly.
- Learn from the “play experts” together. Playing with pets or small children can really help you reconnect with your playful side. If it’s something you do together, you also learn more about your partner and how he or she likes to have fun.
- Make a habit of laughing together whenever you can. Most situations are not as bleak as they appear to be when you approach them with humor.
Learning how to play again
A little humor and playful interaction can go a long way in relieving tense situations and helping you see the brighter side. If you’re feeling a little rusty, learn more about how playful communication can improve your relationship, and for fun ways to practice this skill.Relationship advice tip 3: Never stop communicating
Good communication is a fundamental part of a healthy relationship. When people stop communicating well, they stop relating well, and times of change or stress can really bring out disconnect. As long as you are communicating, you can work through whatever problem you’re facing.Learn your partner’s emotional cues
Each of us is a little different in how we best receive information. Some people might respond better to sight, sound, or touch. Your partner’s responses may be different from yours. Take some time to learn your partner’s cues, and be sure to communicate your own as well. For example, one person might find a brief massage after a stressful day a loving mode of communication—while another might just want to talk over a hot cup of tea.So much of our communication is transmitted by what we don’t say. Nonverbal cues—such as eye contact, leaning forward or away, or touching someone’s arm—communicate much more than words. For a relationship to work well, each person has to be receptive to sending and receiving nonverbal cues. Learning to understand this “body language” can help you better understand what your partner is trying to say. Think about what you are transmitting as well, and if what you say matches what you feel. If you say “I’m fine,” but you clench your teeth and look away, then your body is clearly signaling you are not.
Question your assumptions
If you’ve known each other for a while, you may assume that your partner has a pretty good idea of what you are thinking and what you need. However, your partner is not a mind reader. While your partner may have some idea, it is much healthier to directly express your needs to avoid any confusion. Your partner may sense something, but it might not be what you need. What’s more, people change, and what you needed and wanted five years ago, for example, may be very different now. Getting in the habit of expressing your needs helps you weather difficult times, which otherwise may lead to increasing resentment, misunderstanding, and anger.Use your senses to keep stress in check
If you’re not calm and focused, you won’t be able to communicate effectively. The best way to reduce stress quickly and reliably is through the senses. But each person responds differently to sensory input, so you need to find things that are soothing to you.Relationship advice tip 4: Healthy relationships are built on give and take
If you expect to get what you want 100% of a time in a relationship, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Healthy relationships are built on compromise, and it takes work on each person’s part to make sure that there is a reasonable exchange.Recognize what’s important to your partner
Knowing what is truly important to your partner can go a long way towards building goodwill and an atmosphere of compromise. On the flip side, it’s also important for your partner to recognize your wants and for you to state them clearly. Constantly compromising your needs for others' will build resentment and anger.Don’t make “winning” your goal
If you approach your partner with the attitude that things have to be your way or else, it will be difficult to reach a compromise. Sometimes this attitude comes from not having your needs met while you were younger, or it could be from years of accumulated resentment building up in your current relationship. It’s all right to have strong convictions about something, but your partner deserves to be heard as well. You are more likely to get your needs met if you respect what your partner needs, and compromise when you can.Learn how to respectfully resolve conflict
Conflict is inevitable in any relationship, but to keep a relationship strong, both people need to feel they’ve been heard. The goal is not to win but to resolve the conflict with respect and love.- Make sure you are fighting fair.
- Don’t attack someone directly; use “I” statements to communicate how you feel.
- Don’t drag old arguments into the mix.
- Keep the focus on the issue at hand, and respect the other person.
Relationship advice tip 5: Expect ups and downs
It’s also important to recognize that there are ups and downs in every relationship. You won’t always be on the same page. Sometimes one partner may be struggling with an issue that stresses them, such as the death of a close family member. Other events, like job loss or severe health problems, can affect both partners and make it difficult to relate to each other. You might have different ideas of managing finances or raising children. Different people cope with stress differently, and misunderstanding can rapidly turn to frustration and anger.Relationship advice for getting through life’s ups and downs
- Don’t take out your problems on your partner. Life stresses can make us short tempered. If you are coping with a lot of stress, it might seem easier to snap at your partner. Fighting like this might initially feel like a release, but it slowly poisons your relationship. Find other ways to vent your anger and frustration.
- Some problems are bigger than both of you. Trying to force a solution can cause even more problems. Every person works through problems and issues in his or her own way. Remember that you’re a team. Continuing to move forward together can get you through the rough spots.
- Be open to change. Change is inevitable in life, and it will happen whether you go with it or fight it. Flexibility is essential to adapt to the change that is always taking place in any relationship, and it allows you to grow together through both the good times and the bad.
- Don’t ignore problems. Whatever problems arise in a romantic relationship, it’s important to face them together as a couple. If an aspect of the relationship stops working, don’t simply ignore it, but instead address it with your partner. Things change, so respond to them together as they do.
ABUJA – The detained
leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who is
facing a six-count treason charge, has opposed an application by the
federal government to conduct his trial in secret.
FG had in the application it filed before the Federal High Court sitting
in Abuja, decried that all the witnesses billed to testify against Kanu
and two other pro-Biafra agitators, Benjamin Madubugwu and David
Nwawuisi, who are facing trial with him, have declined to appear in
court.
Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, sandwiched between security
operaives, leaving the court yesterday in Abuja.Director of Radio
Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, sandwiched between security operaives, leaving the
court yesterday in Abuja.
It said the witnesses insisted that they would not testify against the
defendants unless their safety was guaranteed.
Consequently, government lawyer, Mr. David Kaswe, prayed trial Justice
John Tsoho to issue an order protecting the identities of the witnesses
by allowing them to either wear facial mask or to testify behind
screens.
FG equally applied for an order excluding persons except journalists
from witnessing the proceedings.
“The measure is to safeguard the lives of prosecution witnesses who live
in the geographical region where the defendants come from. Since their
arrest, there has been violent protests for the defendants to be
released.
“The witnesses have already indicated fear to give evidence in view of
perceived backlash. My lord, they have categorically informed us that
unless they could be guaranteed some form of protection by the court,
they would not come to testify.
“In the light is this, the case of the prosecution will be greatly
affected should there be any reason for the witnesses not to come to
court”, Kaswe submitted.
Meanwhile, Kanu, through his lead counsel, Chief Chuks Muoma, SAN,
vehemently opposed the application which he said grossly lacked merit.
He argued that section 36(4) of the 1999 constitution made no provision
for masquerades to testify in a trial involving an alleged act of
treason.
“An accused person under our jurisprudence and justice administration
must be confronted with his accusers eye-ball to eye-ball.
“My lord we operate an accusatorial system of procedure under the
common law. Justice must not only be done but must be seen to have been
done.
“It is not within common sense to malign and accuse someone in public
and apply to try him in the bedroom. Having been accused in public we
want to also be tried in public.
“We therefore urge this court not to allow masquerades to testify before
it. We want to see their faces and ask them questions. As masquerades,
how will the court be able to gauge their demeanour and body language?
Is it by the rhythm of their dance steps?
“The tenets of justice outweigh this application and we urge my lord to
reject it. It has no merit whatsoever. Secret trial is for terrorism
charge, it is not for the type of offence for which these defendants
were charged.
“Secret trial does not apply in a case of treasonable felony or
involvement in alleged unlawful society. During the trial we will prove
to them that we are not an illegal organisation”, Muoma added.
After listening to the parties, Justice Tsoho stood down ruling on the
matter till 2pm.
Kanu who was hitherto the Director of Radio Biafra and Television, has
been in detention since October 14, 2015, when he was arrested by
security operatives upon his arrival to Nigeria from his base in the
United Kingdom.
The defendants were alleged to have committed treasonable felony, an
offence punishable under Section 41(C) of the Criminal Code Act, CAP C38
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
FG alleged that they were the ones managing the affairs of the IPOB
which it described as “an unlawful society”.
Specifically, Kanu was alleged to have illegally smuggled radio
transmitters into Nigeria, which he used to disseminate “hate
broadcasts”, encouraging the “secession of the Republic ofBiafra”, from
Nigeria.
However, the accused persons, pleaded not guilty to the charge on
January 20, even as the court ordered their remand at Kuje prison in
Abuja.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/biafra-kanu-rejects-fgs-request-for-secret-trial/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/biafra-kanu-rejects-fgs-request-for-secret-trial/
ABUJA – The detained
leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who is
facing a six-count treason charge, has opposed an application by the
federal government to conduct his trial in secret.
FG had in the application it filed before the Federal High Court sitting
in Abuja, decried that all the witnesses billed to testify against Kanu
and two other pro-Biafra agitators, Benjamin Madubugwu and David
Nwawuisi, who are facing trial with him, have declined to appear in
court.
Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, sandwiched between security
operaives, leaving the court yesterday in Abuja.Director of Radio
Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, sandwiched between security operaives, leaving the
court yesterday in Abuja.
It said the witnesses insisted that they would not testify against the
defendants unless their safety was guaranteed.
Consequently, government lawyer, Mr. David Kaswe, prayed trial Justice
John Tsoho to issue an order protecting the identities of the witnesses
by allowing them to either wear facial mask or to testify behind
screens.
FG equally applied for an order excluding persons except journalists
from witnessing the proceedings.
“The measure is to safeguard the lives of prosecution witnesses who live
in the geographical region where the defendants come from. Since their
arrest, there has been violent protests for the defendants to be
released.
“The witnesses have already indicated fear to give evidence in view of
perceived backlash. My lord, they have categorically informed us that
unless they could be guaranteed some form of protection by the court,
they would not come to testify.
“In the light is this, the case of the prosecution will be greatly
affected should there be any reason for the witnesses not to come to
court”, Kaswe submitted.
Meanwhile, Kanu, through his lead counsel, Chief Chuks Muoma, SAN,
vehemently opposed the application which he said grossly lacked merit.
He argued that section 36(4) of the 1999 constitution made no provision
for masquerades to testify in a trial involving an alleged act of
treason.
“An accused person under our jurisprudence and justice administration
must be confronted with his accusers eye-ball to eye-ball.
“My lord we operate an accusatorial system of procedure under the
common law. Justice must not only be done but must be seen to have been
done.
“It is not within common sense to malign and accuse someone in public
and apply to try him in the bedroom. Having been accused in public we
want to also be tried in public.
“We therefore urge this court not to allow masquerades to testify before
it. We want to see their faces and ask them questions. As masquerades,
how will the court be able to gauge their demeanour and body language?
Is it by the rhythm of their dance steps?
“The tenets of justice outweigh this application and we urge my lord to
reject it. It has no merit whatsoever. Secret trial is for terrorism
charge, it is not for the type of offence for which these defendants
were charged.
“Secret trial does not apply in a case of treasonable felony or
involvement in alleged unlawful society. During the trial we will prove
to them that we are not an illegal organisation”, Muoma added.
After listening to the parties, Justice Tsoho stood down ruling on the
matter till 2pm.
Kanu who was hitherto the Director of Radio Biafra and Television, has
been in detention since October 14, 2015, when he was arrested by
security operatives upon his arrival to Nigeria from his base in the
United Kingdom.
The defendants were alleged to have committed treasonable felony, an
offence punishable under Section 41(C) of the Criminal Code Act, CAP C38
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
FG alleged that they were the ones managing the affairs of the IPOB
which it described as “an unlawful society”.
Specifically, Kanu was alleged to have illegally smuggled radio
transmitters into Nigeria, which he used to disseminate “hate
broadcasts”, encouraging the “secession of the Republic ofBiafra”, from
Nigeria.
However, the accused persons, pleaded not guilty to the charge on
January 20, even as the court ordered their remand at Kuje prison in
Abuja.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/biafra-kanu-rejects-fgs-request-for-secret-trial/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/biafra-kanu-rejects-fgs-request-for-secret-trial/
No comments:
Post a Comment