Newlyweds
Five Strategies to Improve your Marriage
Is it possible to improve a troubled marriage without the cooperation of our spouse? Read on for our top five strategies to improve your marriage. A lot of people feel trapped in a dissatisfying or troubled marriage. They feel powerless to ‘fix’ it because their spouse refuses to join them in counselling or a marriage…
Read MoreExpectations in Marriage
In this post we feature some extracts from a homily by Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas. Read the full article: here Expectations and Happiness Happiness is determined by our expectations and our ability to notice and rejoice in little things. If our expectations are modest, life will usually exceed our…
Read MoreSexual Differences – Respect & Cherishment
When we understand our sexual differences, we are empowered to use them constructively to build great relationships. We’ve always maintained that our differences are something to celebrate; that they allow us to more deeply appreciate the unique contribution we each make to our shared life. We can be different, with differing abilities in various areas,…
Read MoreThree Things I Wish I Knew Before We Got Married
The benefit of hindsight! There’s not a couple on earth who doesn’t have some words of wisdom about marriage to share with the young. I came across this on Facebook and was immediately impressed with insights articulated by this newlywed husband. We hope the SmartLoving community will find it helpful, and we’d love to hear what…
Read MoreDiscover your Unique Love Profile
Do you know your love needs and love busters? Do the quiz below to determine your top five love needs and worst three love busters. Love Need: a behaviour or gesture which communicates love to you and helps you feel close and connected to your spouse. Of the following list, choose the five Love Needs that…
Read MoreLoving Smart
Everyone experiences love differently. Biology, upbringing, personality and experiences all influence the way an individual likes and needs to be loved. Being different in this way isn’t a problem. In fact it’s one of the things that makes relationships a rich and wonderful experience. What is a potential problem is that both you and your…
Read MoreThe Nature of Love
We all ‘know’ what love is: it’s that feeling of affection and attachment we experience for another person. But is love just a feeling? Or is there more to it?
Read MoreThe Way you Hold Me
Holy Is the way we hold each other holy? Newlywed Justin Bieber seems to think so in this music video (Holy) expressing some unexpected themes. We’re not a fan of Justin, but we think he’s created something very interesting here. What is your reaction? Share it with us in the comments. Justin Bieber Lyrics “Holy”…
Read MoreThe Passion Principle
One of the great delights of running marriage enrichment retreats for couples, is hearing all the amazing love stories. From beginning to end, every one of them has mystery, radical self-sacrifice and epic persistence in some capacity. We often joke that our own love story is more akin to a soap opera than real life…
Read MoreRomantic Love: Feeling or Choice?
From Hollywood to Cleo, the cultural representations of Romantic Love are clear: it’s a spontaneous feeling of attraction and affection for another. And like all feelings, we don’t choose it: it’s something that just happens to us. We spontaneously ‘fall’ into love and we are powerless to prevent it. To be sure when it strikes,…
Read More