Killing the Seven-Year Itch

When most people fall in love and get married, they don't see the flaws in their spouse. The two are working together in nearly every aspect of life and blissfully unaware of faults and short comings. However, as the relationship begins to age, it seems as though communication breaks down and the little tics that used to be cute are now annoying and aggravating. Eventually, couples might even try to rebuild their relationship by attending marriage counseling in Sandy, Utah or somewhere else in the country. 

It might sound a little odd, but the best way to avoid the seven-year itch is to take action at the beginning of your marriage. The seven-year itch is best viewed as though it were a preventable disease. That's not to say that you need to enroll in marriage counseling as soon as you walk out of the church on your wedding day; rather, couples in Sandy and elsewhere should always do the things you did when you were dating and first married. 

For starters, continue to date regularly. It may sound trivial, but by going on a date every week you continually build your relationship and, in turn, your communication as a couple. It doesn't matter if you live in Sandy or Denver, continual dating will help your marriage retain the frivolity of the first year and miss the deterioration of the seventh year and consequential need for marriage counseling. 

When something goes wrong, don't argue and fight about the circumstances surrounding why it went wrong or isn't working. No one really knows if fighting leads to the blame game or vice versa, but most people can agree that they almost always seem to go together. If you find yourself fighting about the circumstances of a problem, stop! Instead, get to work fixing the problem. If it's a big problem, ask your spouse to join you in a brainstorm to come up with real solutions. 

Finally, remember to be selfish together, not selfish at each other. If you know you need to go to counseling, swallow your pride and do it. It won't matter if you are in Sandy or anywhere else in the world, the two of you are in this together for better or for worse. The only fighting you should be doing is from the same side. Remember, when you were dating it was the two of you against the world; try to keep it that way.  

Ryan Muir is a relationship writer for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Swinton Counseling. Follow on Twitter.