How to Communicate Well with Your Wife: How to Have a Healthy Married Life

Marriage is among the biggest and most beautiful relationships in life; however, it demands effort and attention to survive as a healthy and strong marriage. Effective communication happens to be one of the key ingredients that keep your marriage healthy and strong.

Whenever you and your wife know the art of good communication, it builds trust and deepens your bonding and prevents misunderstanding.

Well, how do you know whether you really are communicating effectively with your husband or wife? This article deconstructs simple yet effective tips that can help you form and retain strong communication in marriage.

Whether you are newlyweds or seasoned with marriage for years, you can make a world of difference with the following tips. So let’s get right into it!

Why Communication is Important in Marriage?

Let’s begin there. Before we go any further, let’s put in the what and why. Why do you think it is that communication is the heart of marriage? For a couple, communication is the building block of the relationship.

It provides you and your partner with a chance to express your thoughts, feelings, and desires.

The absence of which can foster the accumulation of problems leading to misunderstandings, frustration, and sometimes resentment.

Good communication helps you in understanding each other’s needs better, solve problems together, builds trust and respect, and deepens the emotional connection between you.

If you want your marriage to grow and bloom, then start off by improving communication. Alright, here are some practical tips coming up, so you and your husband can communicate better:

Active Listening

Communication covers a lot of things that are not just speaking. As a matter of fact, most of the essence of communication comes with listening. The duration you spend listening to your spouse matters. Listen and do not just wait for your time to talk.

Active listening looks like:

• Maintain eye contact with your spouse while they speak to them.
• Use nodding or mini-verbal cues such as “I see” or “I understand.”
• Do not interrupt! Let them complete their thoughts before you begin speaking.
• Paraphrase what you heard, repeating words like “So what you’re saying is.” This will assure your partner that you heard them correctly.

This will make your partner feel valued and listened to; this in itself is an action bonding you together.

Express Your Feelings Clearly

You must be open about your emotions; however, do not assume that your spouse knows everything. The communication is crystal clear. If it bothers you or pleases you, let them know.

How can I express myself clearly?

• Speak your mind by way of “I” statements as opposed to “You” statements. Make it “I feel hurt when” instead of “You always make me feel…”. This keeps the spouse from feeling attacked.
• Specify exactly what is vexing you or what you would like to have changed.
• Avoid vague complaints because those are probably going to cause your spouse to defend themselves.

You will be far less likely to miscommunicate when you are clear and direct as you want your spouse to know where you’re coming from.

Choose the Right Time to Talk

The right time can change everything in the act of communication. He has had a heavy long day, so that is surely not the time for him to be seriously discussed in the course of the conversation.

How do you choose the right time?

• Ask your spouse whether or not it is a good time to talk before any deep discussion.
• Identify a quiet and private place where such talk would not be distracted.
• Important matters should be discussed when either of you is not angry or upset. Then allow your emotions to cool first.

Knowing your timing can help you achieve a more fruitful and peaceful communication.

Be Open to Compromise

You are not going to agree on everything in any relationship. That’s just okay. The art of compromise is being willing to do so. Marriage is about teamwork and sometimes meeting in the middle.

How do you do that?

To compromise effectively:

• Listen to your spouse’s point of view, even if you disagree.
• Find common ground where you both can be satisfied.
• Remember to sometimes let go of being right to let them win an argument.

Flexibility and the attitude of compromise will help your spouse realize that he or she is being cared for, and, with your spouse, you can always find solutions to most problems.

Be Empathetic

To see things from your spouse’s perspective and know exactly how he or she feels is what empathy means. This is really a very effective tool in communication and it will really help you connect emotionally well with your spouse.

How can you show this?

• Try to imagine how your spouse feels when he or she gets upset. Let them feel like you understand how he or she feels.
• Use words like “I understand why you feel that way,” or “I know that was tough for you.”
• Never minimize their emotions, even when you cannot agree with the issue at hand.

Empathy helps you and your partner grow closer emotionally; therefore, facing problems is less burdensome.

Do Not Blame and Criticize

One of the quickest ways to shut down communication is through blame and criticism. If you are constantly pointing at your spouse or blaming them, they are going to become defensive or close up.

How do you avoid blame?

• The problem is not the person. Change “You never help around the house” to “I would appreciate it if we could work together on chores.”
• Be respectful in raising a problem.
• Never fault-find; this soils any good flow of conversation and directs it to the problem.

Squeeze in Some Time for Regular Check-Ins

Life becomes overwhelming and, sooner than you realize, can make you one of those couples who hardly ever have a meaningful, much deeper conversation. To avoid that, ensure to squeeze some time in for regular check-ins too.

What is a check-in?

A check-in is simply a time when you and your spouse sit down to discuss how each of you is feeling in the relationship. It’s not official; however, just a quality moment for reconnecting.

Ask your partner each of the following questions:

• How are you feeling about our relationship right now?
• Is there anything bothering you, which you haven’t really said anything to?
• How can we better support each other?

You keep the lines open of communication and allow these little provokes to not become big problems once you have time to discuss things together about what bothers you.

Conclusion

Good communication, in a good marriage, is love. The space to grow, solve problems, as well as restore the emotional bond is given by good communication.

Active listening, explicit expression of emotions, selection of the right time to speak, openness to compromise, sympathy for others, no lecturing, and coming up with frequently available times to communicate with your husband could make communication with your husband stronger and happier.

Good communication is not overnight gleaning; efforts are rewarding. Take some time doing these with your spouse and you will be a happier couple! Of these tips, which of them will you immediately start practicing?