Give and Take!

Everyone knows that romance is a give and take situation. The problems come in when the balance begins to get lopsided. One partner is doing more giving and the other is doing more taking. We all want to enjoy the romantic efforts of our partner it feels great. However, there are wonderful feelings in doing things for them as well. Think about how you feel when your partner does something romantic for you? Shouldn't they get the same feeling returned to them? If this is not your train of thought then you need to start retraining yourself. Unmatched romance soon becomes a chore to the person being romantic. They will start to loose interest and start thinking things like "Why, should I do this it won't be appreciated?" Think about how your react to your partner do you expect them to be the one that buys flowers all the time, or sets up wonderful evenings for the two of you. If your not pulling your weight in your relationship then it is your partner that is suffering not you. Now if you love your partner and want them to be happy there is no time like the present to take action. Return all their romantic notions with ones of your own. Make it a challenge to yourself to return every serve they make and soon you might just find the wonderful joy you will have in yourself and how thankful you are that your partner loves you.

Can you walk the talk?

How often do the two of you just go out for a walk to talk. Getting out of your normal setting and speaking to each other as you stroll along is a great way to stay connected. Find a not so crowded place to walk in your neighborhood and get some exercise while you converse with the person you love. It seems a little easier to converse when you are out in the open as you are not facing each other and you already have your blood pumping from the exercise. Here is a great way to strike up a conversation if you don't have anything to speak about during the walk. Pick something out of the newspaper or find a article in a magazine and then discuss it during your walk. Think up ideas about the subject they can be serious or silly as long as they get the two of you thinking and/or laughing. Stimulating your minds is a great activity to do together now you are adding exercise into the mix so you can't go wrong. Think about it spending time with the person you love, exercising and diving deep into thought what else do you need?

What would you do for your Love!

Most of us go out of our way to help our partners. I hear stories of people running out in the pouring rain to get ice cream for their pregnant partners. Or parents that will sit up with their sick children all night and not get a minute of sleep. These are the type of actions that show how much you care about that other person. When you evaluate your relationship however you have to look at if you think your partner would do the same for you. Will they stay up late to massage your back if you hurt it at work? Would they run across town to help you out in the middle of the night? Would they take care of the kids so you could get some rest? If you answer no to these questions then you really need to look at your relationship, does it work with one partner putting all the effort into the relationship? Is there room for selfishness in a relationship? Well if you are strong you can overcome many challenges. No one likes for their good deeds to go unnoticed but for many people out their it is like that. Now you have to compare apples to oranges here. On partner might not be able to go without sleep and perform their job the next day, however they can repay the other partner in other ways. You can't look for a specific return on your investment so don't give a relaxing massage and expect your partner to jump up and give you one right after they are done. Look carefully at your relationship and the things your partner might be doing that you are over looking, it is easy to do. Relationships are like a bicycle built for two. You both have to pedal to get where you need to be, and if one person is doing all the pedaling then they will grow tired faster then the one not pedaling.

Compliments.

If you don't already you need to make it a point to complement your partner on a daily basis. You don't have to go overboard because that will just be overkill. However a simple, "You look nice" or "Your so Handsome" is a great way to start your partners morning. This simple little compliment could possibly change they way their day goes. Boosting your partners confidence is a great way to make your relationship better, plus it shows them you really care. Mix it up a little and spread you compliments out during the day. When ever you have something negative to say make sure you always follow it with a compliment. For instance, if you partner makes the worst dinner ever, simple say "This meal is not nearly as tasty as the one you make last week, now that was delicious" or "That really didn't feel very good for me, but I loved it last time when you did this" Not only do you express your true feelings but you also let them know what your really enjoyed or liked. Now listen up this is an important part of this post on compliments. When ever you partner goes out of their way to do something like dressing up or doing extra housework you need to make it a point to let them know how great they look or did. Go overboard at this point "WOW, you look so wonderful, everyone is going to have their eyes on you" or "Oh my god, the house looks wonderful" followed by a long kiss. This is how we are suppose to be addressed when you go out of our way to accomplish something. Now you have the tools to make your partner feel like a million buck with only the use of words and actions.

Keeping Romance Hot

I think most everyone knows that romance is about making your partner feel special. There are several ways to do that, be it bringing home flowers, surprising them with a night out, or maybe even taking a trip. We need to also keep romance alive in our bedrooms. Maybe that wasn't a good statement as some of you might be having intimacy outside of the bedroom. To be truly romantic in your love life you have to make your partner feel like you think they are special. Sex is one of the easiest ways to accomplish this feat. For starters put your focus of foreplay on your partner, make their sensation the best it can be. Use different items and toys to bring their excitement level to the top. Speak to them during your activities, tell them how much you love them and how great of lover they are. This little things are a big turn on for most people. You might be wondering about now when is it your turn to be the center of sexual attention. Well you can't force someone to act this way, but if your partner truly loves you then the both of you will find ways to take turns pleasing the other person. I suggest however making your partner the total focus once in a while, meet only their needs and see what happens. Now everyone deserves a chance at this and if tonight is your turn to lay back and enjoy, you need to make plans to reciprocate the actions.

Go For it.

Do you sit around and have great romantic ideas pop into your head, only to talk yourself out of doing them. Thinking your partner might think they are silly or think you are nuts. Well stop right now many a great romantic ideas are never put into place because of this type of thinking. I am here to tell you that if a idea pops into your head then act on it. No big deal if it doesn't go over as well as you planned, but what if it goes over even better then you planned. Use the slogan from Nike and "Just do it" I can't even imagine how many ideas didn't happen because of people wondering how they would be perceived. Remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Now get out their and show your partner how romantic you are.

How to act in public

We all understand the begining of a relationship is a wonderful time. You cannot seem to get enough of each other and every time you are together you want to touch and kiss. Well that is fine and dandy when you are in the comfort of your own home. When you venture out in public you need to have some control. People do not like to see adults groping each other at the mall. Parents especially don't want their young children watching to adults, for lack of a better term, getting it on. Use some control, hold hands, or put your arms around each other is fine. These hands should always remain in a respectable place, never down the back of her pants. Have a little control and when you get home you can lose this control.

I think it is very sweet to see an older couple holding hands in public, but the thought of them french kissing in public might make me puke. So think about how other people are viewing you during this important phase in your relationship. Don't use it all up right from the start, think of it as saving it for later. Ration this affection out. I would much rather have a stable passionate relationship for the rest of my life, then one that loses it's appeal because we have done all we can do.

Take in a little league game together?

A great test of a relationship is to get each other to a little league game together. Especially if you don't have children. You can find a game easily in your town, pick a field where the little kids play and just go soak up the atmosphere. Not having a specific child to watch, you can absorb all the children with an open mind. Discuss each child and how they act on the field and connect it to yourself. Pick out which kid you feel best represented you at that age. Have you partner do the same. Discuss how you would handle situations as they arise during the coarse of the game. Make notes of parents you think are not setting good role models and ones that are. This way when and if you ever have children together you can use this date as a point of reference on how you might act. Watch and see which children are paying attention and which ones are picking daisies. Hopefully you will see that the main point of any event or contest for the children at this age is to have fun. I coached little league for over ten years now and when the kids ask me if we are winning or losing I always ask them "Are you having fun?" and when they say yes I say "Then we are winning"

One small note on this subject, you might want to make sure you sit far enough away from parents if you are discussing their children's behaviour so that they cannot hear you. Parents can be pretty protective of their kids. So if a kid is acting bad don't pour gas on the fire, they most likely learned it from their parents.