Challenged by Your Relationships? Good!

By John Robson

Why are our relationships such a challenge?

By their very nature, relationships always push us toward duality, toward the opposites. They take us into both the light of our souls and the darkness of our subconscious. They force us to look at the light and experience the shadows.

If we deny the light of either ourselves or the other person, we relate to each other in conflict. If we deny the shadows of either ourselves or the other, we relate in illusion. Only by accepting both do we truly face reality and experience harmony.

Relationships also challenge us to accept the unknown of both ourselves and the other, and this is never easy. Meeting this challenge must be founded on trust. You need to trust that the other will get whatever they need from you. You also need to trust that you will get whatever you need from them.

The key word is NEED, not desire. We are not in relationships to have our desires fulfilled. It is up to us to fulfill our own desires and stop demanding that they be fulfilled by others. For example, if you have the desire to be loved, you must not demand it from someone else. You fulfill your need for love by expressing it, and no one can prevent you from doing that.

We usually create difficulties in our relationships when we let our desires get in the way of the needs. When we don’t get our desires met – and that includes things like getting our way, getting what we want, getting love and attention, being made to feel important, being shown respect and honour, and so on – we usually get angry, sad, resentful or revengeful. When that happens we need to stop and ask ourselves what we really need, and then give it to ourselves rather than demanding it from others.

It’s not always easy to know what we need. While we are conscious of our desires, our needs are usually related to what we are unconscious of. That’s why intimacy is an important aspect of all relationships. Intimacy exposes the unconscious and teaches us trust. Intimacy helps us to recognize needs and awakens the love to respond to those needs. It especially empowers us to meet our own needs. Intimacy says: you are acceptable and lovable just as you are.

It helps to remember that soul is the underlying guide of all relationships. We always get what we need in our relationships because the soul always responds to need. If we don’t recognize this, the problem lies only in our lack of awareness and understanding.

All of our relationships have the potential of showing us who we are as souls, and asking us to relate as souls to the other. That’s why our relationship challenges are such powerful forces for personal growth!

Andrew and Bonnie Schneider offer rich resources for living a soulful life at http://www.thesouljourney.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Robson

relationship intimacy

Relationship Intimacy: 13 Keys For A Better One, Part 3
By Danny Presswood

There are few things in this world that are better than a great marriage or relationship. Antithetically, there are very few things worse than a lousy one! Statistics say half of all marriages end in divorce, and non-marriage relationships are even worse. Let’s face it; great relationships take a lot of work! So how can we “stack the deck” in favor of an AWESOME relationship? Each article in this four part series lists 13 keys for improving relationship intimacy!

1. Exercise together. Lift weights, jog, ride bikes, or whatever. Exercise increases your metabolism, helping you keep that girlish figure or cute butt (3 or more 30 minute sessions a week). It also releases endorphins (the same ones released during sexual intimacy). A growing number of studies confirm a correlation between regular aerobic exercise and sexual desire and ability, and intimacy in a relationship.

2. Find ways to assure your spouse that you are thinking of them when you are apart. Call one another at work or text message one another during the day. Send her flowers while she is traveling. Write her letters on the hotel stationary. Call late at night to say I couldn’t sleep without you by my side. Have the pizza boy bring a pizza with the message “All she said was she was dreaming about you!” That will give your intimacy a kick in the pants for sure!

3. Set up a Boys Night out for him. Would he enjoy an all night Bowl-a-Rama? How about cards till dawn? Or tickets to a tractor pull or a gun show? Use your imagination. He will surely show more intimacy as a result.

4. Plan a Girls Night Out for your wife and her best friends. Work with other husbands to plan a great evening where they can escape the routine. She will surely show more intimacy as a result.

5. Practice listening better and more often. Turn off the TV or radio and have a substantive discussion about the activities of the day, the needs of the children, or your plans and dreams for the future. Taking risks with one another is a relationship intimacy builder.

6. Catch your partner doing something that pleases you. Tell them why you are pleased, and how glad you are to have them in your life. Give them a big hug and kiss, and maybe a pat of encouragement. (Where you give the “Pat” is up to you, depending upon how intimate you feel!)

7. Buy your spouse a new watch. Have it inscribed with “I always have time for you!” Thoughtful gestures like that build relationship intimacy quickly.

8. Purchase an umbrella built for two then take a walk with it the next time it rains. It’ll force you to walk closely together, and you’ll soon be laughing and enjoying the intimacy of closeness.

9. Call your spouse’s parents. Find out about their favorite things as a child. Prepare an evening of their favorite childhood food, dessert, story, song, movie, and so on.

10. Discuss your responses to the question “what can I do to make our relationship and our intimacy more romantic and meaningful for you?” And of course you will want to fulfill those wants, needs, and desires of your spouse at every opportunity.

11. Have a wedding cake made for your anniversary. Invite friends over for cake, punch and wedding pictures. Make sure the friends know just how “special” you think your spouse is. Who knows, someone else’s relationship intimacy might get a boost as a result.

12. Always remember EVERY birthday, anniversary, holiday, and special occasion! You can lavish her with gifts 99 out of 100 times, and I guarantee you the only one she will remember is the one you forgot! If money is an issue, hand pick flowers, make a card, write a song or poem (it doesn’t have to be good – as long as it’s from your heart – she will love it and adore you for writing it!), grill hot dogs, go on a picnic, or whatever. Relationship intimacy doesn’t have to cost money!

13. Use all five of your senses to entertain and/or please your spouse. If you’ve forgotten, the five senses include seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Since this is a “G” rated article, I won’t get into any details. Let’s suffice to say, “Be creative and use your imagination!” You won’t believe how quickly relationship intimacy will climax.

Here is a tool for using these ideas. Go through the entire list together and rate each of the ideas. Ladies, place your numbers on the left side of each item. Gentlemen, place your ratings on the right side of each idea. Use the following rating scale:

1 = My Personal Favorites!

2 = I Would Love For You To Do This For Me!

3 = I Would Love To Do This For You!

4 = Let’s Discuss This Idea Further!

5 = There Ain’t No Way, Baby!

Have fun with this list of 13 ideas. The bottom line of each article in this series is really two-fold. First, I want you to learn to think of the wants, needs and desires of your spouse before you think of your own. Second, I want you to learn to have fun together again! Let your imagination run wild! Try actually doing the things listed in this article. If you will do just one activity each week from the entire series of articles, you will increase the intimacy in your relationship (at least once a week) for an entire year! You can find all the articles in this series in the Feature Articles Section of K-9 Outfitters, a Division of Damascus Road Enterprises.

Danny Presswood, 2006 All Rights Reserved.

Danny Presswood is a decorated retired US Army Combat (Airborne) Chaplain. He and his wife Cheri now live in the wooded Ozarks hills of SW MO. Presently working on his Doctorate, Danny writes the Feature Articles and Newsletter for K-9 Outfitters, A Division of Damascus Road Enterprises, which offers a plethora of AWESOME discount, luxury, unique, and Handmade in the USA Online Dog Supplies. K-9 Outfitters, A Division of Damascus Road Enterprises.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Danny_Presswood

relationship intimacy

relationship intimacy



Attract Your Right Relationship with Your Natural Attractive Force
By Amirah Hall

As long as you resist being your natural, balanced self, you
will not attract harmonious, long lasting, or healthy
relationships. Once you become true to yourself, you
automatically attract the right person to you. You can
access and balance own unique vibration of energy to reveal
your innate power and beauty within to attract the type of
relationships you desire.

You Broadcast Who You Are and What You Want

What you think about, you attract. When you are cautious and
hold back your true self, you attract similar situations to
you. If you think you are not sufficient, not wise enough,
or not powerful enough to create the reality you truly
desire, you will attract a representation of your own doubt
in yourself.

Attract Balanced Relationships

If you look for someone else to complete you, you attract an
incomplete relationship. What you create is a partnership
made up of two half people, that will not satisfy either
person.

When you feel complete and sufficient, you set up a
vibration that attracts those with the similar qualities.
When you reflect the type of vibrations you choose to
attract in someone else, you will be seen and recognized by
Mr./Ms. Wonderful.

Re-ignite Your Attractive Power

Balance your own male or female energy to re-ignite your
attractive power. When you flood your body with your own
female or male energy, you
How To Unlock Your Natural Attractive Force and Attract
Your Right Relationship
r body automatically seeks its
original perfect balance. With practice your system will
stay in balance effortlessly. This way you can experience
your ultimate sexual and creative power..

Become Clear and Certain About What You Want

Connecting with your innate power and sexual force spawns a
new level of self certainty. Your confidence will soar and
you may find yourself achieving goals you long forgot. As
you get neutral to foreign energies that compete for space
in your body, you become clear, grounded and focused.

Follow Your Own Path

Life is a journey, and you have everything you need to
create the most desirable, enjoyable and fulfilling journey
for yourself. Take steps each day to reach your life goals,
and you will not only be amazed at how well you will achieve
them, but at how enjoyable and stress-free the journey will
be.

Increase Your Natural Sex Appeal with Visualization

Everyone has both male and female energies. Sometimes
someone from your past has turned off your male or female
energy. It affects how and what you attract in your life. In
the following exercise, you will increase the amount of
female or male energy running in your body to increase your
sex appeal and attraction.

1. Close your eyes, but stay focused.

2. Visualize yourself sitting in a control room in the
center of your head where you have command of your entire
being.

3. In your mind’s eye, visualize a scale or gauge from
0-100% that represents your current male or female energy
running in your body. Notice the current reading of your
meter. Don’t judge it. Just note what you see.

4. Imagine increasing this energy by slowly raising your
gauge to 100%.

5. Simultaneously, allow the energy from the sexual center,
approximately 2” below your navel, begin to move throughout
the entire body. Breath in from the navel and imagine the
energy flowing upwards through the torso, down the arms, and
up into the head. Allow this sexual energy flow out the top
of your head like a fountain. Let the energy flow down to
your feet and bring the energy up through the bottoms of
your feet, into the legs creating a cycle of your own
flowing feminine or masculine energy.

6. Choose a color for this energy flowing through the body
as you push the needle on the gauge to 100%.

7. Allow yourself to experience your powerful male or female
energy flushing out foreign energies from your body. Let
this energy flow for about 5 minutes. Notice how your body
feels.

8. Allow your system to adjust to a level where you feel
most comfortable.

Your Attractive Force Within IS Powerful

Your renewed personal power will revolutionize your
relationships. When you run your own sexual energy you
increase self-confidence, boost your attractiveness and
create balance.
People around you will notice a positive change in you. They
may not put their finger on it but you will know why they
respond favorably. Practice this energy technique for 20-30
days and the results will astonish you.

Amirah © 2006 All Rights Reserved.

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in
print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included.
A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Amirah, a 25-year Professional Intuitive Coach, Author and
Speaker works with individuals who want to make positive
life changes and experience a deeper connection to self.
Amirah helps clients build confidence, self-esteem to enrich
their life. Author of eBook, GET Better LOVE and MORE
of IT!, and offers free guidance through her monthly articles and
newsletter,“The SoulMystic Says…”
http://www.soulmystic.com/index.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amirah_Hall

relationship intimacy

Relationship intimacy

26 Ways to Improve Relationship Intimacy, Part 2
By Danny Presswood

A great marriage or relationship is a FANTASTIC thing, we’d all agree. We’d also agree that a lousy marriage is awful! Since half of all marriages end in divorce, it’s obvious that great relationships are hard work! So how can we “stack the deck” in favor of an AWESOME marriage? Part 1 of this series lists 26 ways to improve intimacy in your relationship. This article has 26 more! Look for the series in the Feature Articles Section of K-9 Outfitters, a Division of Damascus Road Enterprises.

1. Find the local “Lover’s Lane” in your community and drop in some evening on your way home from a romantic dinner. (Be sure to use a breath mint after dinner). If you don’t know where “Lover’s Lane” is, ask any local teenager. Or you can ask a local policeman by posing as a concerned parent looking for their “wayward” teen. Trust me, some good old “passionate necking” will do your relationship intimacy a world of good.

2. Write “I Love You ____” with chalk on the sidewalk outside their office building. Then call and challenge them to find the secret message you’ve left for them somewhere between work and home. Have a special prize (even a candy bar, perfume, cologne, a sexy “teddy” nightie, a new CD of his favorite group, etc.) to give them if they find the message. Your relationship intimacy will benefit.

3. Read a relationship book and discuss it together. One of my favorites is “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. He even has workbooks to use during your study together. (Hint: Once you discover your mate’s Love Language, learn to speak their language fluently!) Some other books I highly recommend include “Five Foundations for Marriage” by Robert & Judson Cornwall; “Hidden Keys of a Loving Lasting Marriage” by Gary Smalley; “Equality and Submission in Marriage” by John C. Howell; “The Marriage Checkup” by H. Norman Wright; “Building Your Mate’s Self-Esteem” by Dennis & Barbara Rainey; “Strike the Original Match” by Charles Swindoll; “Keeping Your Marriage From Burning Out” by William L. Coleman; “Love Life For Every Married Couple” by Ed Wheat; “For Better, For Worse, For Keeps” by Bob Moeller; “Growing A Healthy Marriage,” Mike Yorkey, Editor; “His Needs, Her Needs” by William F. Harley, Jr.; and “The Many Loves of Marriage” by Thomas & Nanette Kinkade. You can find these and many other books on marriage and relationships in your local bookstore. This exercise will bring surprisingly greater relationship intimacy to your marriage.

4. Develop a special code for you and your spouse to use with beepers, blackberries, or cell phones, when you are thinking romantically about one another. Think relationship intimacy.

5. Try this exercise. Each of you take pen and paper and answer this question; “What do you want more of from this relationship?” Each of you list 5 things you want more of and swap lists. Write regular reminders to encourage one another, and be sure to write notes of thanks when your partner fulfills your wishes and increases your relationship intimacy.

6. Establish a weekly “Movie Night.” Watch a movie about love and relationships, and discuss what you learned when it’s over. Focus on how those lessons can improve your relationship intimacy.

7. Write a poem, sonnet, or song about your mate. It doesn’t have to rhyme and it doesn’t have to be great! It’s enough that you wrote it about the one you love (be sure to use their name in the title or body of the composition). I assure you they will be duly impressed and intimacy will flourish. .

8. Make a list of the 50 (or 100) “Places I would like to be alone with you.” Or it could be the places I’d like to – go with you, kiss you, make love with you, or whatever you choose. To help your relationship intimacy grow even more, devise a plan of how and when you will visit these places and fulfill those fantasies!

9. Discover new and unusual places and ways to communicate “I Love You!” to your spouse. I’ve seen banners behind airplanes, billboard signs, paintings on water towers and underpasses, and so on. Is money an issue? OK, try these. I once made a tri-fold anniversary card for my wife by covering the cardboard from a washing machine with white table runner paper, writing a message in crayon and magic marker, and filling the inside with a year by year montage of pictures of our life together. Another time I used table runner to create a 10 foot long banner with a birthday message of love. Use your imagination and keep in mind that relationship intimacy is the goal.

10. Send a pair of oven mitts to your spouse at work, with this message attached. “I am going to be too hot to handle tonight, so wear these!” then greet them at the door wearing nothing but a smile! (First, be sure to send the kids to Grandma’s for the evening!). Be careful, though, because this will not only set your relationship intimacy on fire, this behavior has been know to cause “babies.”

11. Think of some of your lover’s favorite things. Create an acronym of their name with each letter of their name standing for something they like to eat, do, smell, wear, hear, see, etc. Then give them each of the things represented by the acronym. Your relationship will truly become more intimate.

12. Surprise your spouse with a weekend getaway to a local hotel. Rent a room with a Jacuzzi or spa. Order room service, and don’t leave the room all weekend. (You can figure out the rest – Hey! This is a “G” rated article). Think relationship intimacy!

13. Make a practice of asking your spouse “How’s your ‘Love Tank’ today?” (Each of us has a love tank. It might be full, ¾ full, ½ full, ¼ full, or empty). Naturally, the follow-up question is “What can I do to make your love tank full again?” Remember, your concern is for your spouse’s intimacy needs. So wear thick skin, and gladly do whatever they need for their love tank to be full again. That’s what marriage is all about!

14. Learn some new ways to say “I Love You!” Try sign language, foreign languages, Morse code, Western Union, or Federal Express. Express your love and help your relationship intimacy grow in ways that are unique to only you two.

15. Find ways to occasionally help with your spouse’s job. Show more than a “How was your work today, honey?” interest. Learn what really fascinates them about their work. If possible, go see where they work, and have them explain their job and daily routine to you. Show your pride in their personal accomplishments. Express gratitude for all they do for your family. Your relationship intimacy will become more genuine to your spouse.

16. Kidnap your spouse from their daily work routine. This doesn’t have to be a big, involved, expensive, undercover operation. You can simply pick them up with a picnic basket in hand for a sunny, atypical lunch.

17. For their next birthday or anniversary, do this. Give them an envelope to take to work with instructions not to open it until the day is over (the suspense will drive them nuts!). In that envelope, give them instructions of where to go after work, say to a local flower shop. When they get there, the florist gives them a single rose with written instructions of the next place to go, like the card, balloon, or candy store. Each place has a small gift and the next set of instructions. The last set can take them to your favorite restaurant or Hotel, where you are waiting to complete a romantic evening of relationship intimacy. WOW!

18. Volunteer to do all of your spouse’s “household chores” in addition to your own for one week. Tell them they are free to do whatever they wish; read books, plant flowers, go for long walks, take luxurious baths, get extra sleep, or whatever. I guarantee you this will make you a lot of money in the relationship intimacy department.

19. Hold hands while you pray, watch TV, take a walk, or sit in church or at a movie. Even this simple act will improve your relationship intimacy

20. Make it a daily practice to say something about your spouse to someone else, and also something to your spouse about themselves, which is good, positive, or uplifting. In other words, compliment your spouse daily. They will soon believe your relationship intimacy is for real once again.

21. Take the kids out for a Saturday, and leave your spouse home to sleep late. Leave their breakfast ready, coffee pot on, paper at bedside, and so forth. Tell them just to be lazy that day, and relax. They will have more energy for intimacy as a result.

22. When you hear a love song on the radio, send your spouse a text message or call the answering machine, and say “I love you, darling, listen to this…” and repeat your favorite words of the song to them, ending with, “That’s how I feel when I think of you!” Their intimacy hormones will begin to bubble!

23. Make it a practice to share an intimate kiss and hug before leaving every morning, as soon as you get home in the evening, and before going to bed. I’m not talking about the obligatory “peck” like two birds “beaking” one another. Remember, the operative word here is INTIMACY!

24. Plan at least one date every week. Go to dinner or a movie. Go on a picnic or biking. Go to a sporting event or something with the Arts or music. Play cards or table games with other couples. Fly a kite or go swimming, fishing or sailing together. The goal is to build relationship intimacy.

25. Learn a new hobby together. It could be cross stitch (don’t laugh guys, I’ve done it; they make great hand made cheap Christmas gifts). It could be pottery, woodcarving, skydiving, fishing, ceramics, rock climbing, or you name it. Intimacy grows as we spend more time together, enjoying one another.

26. Once a quarter you should plan a weekend escape. Take turns planning them, and tell your partner in advance so the anticipation builds. Or plan them together and watch one another’s excitement grow as the time nears. Relationship intimacy will improve during the planning process as well as during the activity itself. You can’t lose!

Here is a tool for using these ideas. Go through the entire list together and rate each of the ideas. Ladies, place your numbers on the left side of each item. Gentlemen, place your ratings on the right side of each idea. Use the following rating scale:

1 = My Personal Favorites!

2 = I Would Love For You To Do This For Me!

3 = I Would Love To Do This For You!

4 = Let’s Discuss This Idea Further!

5 = There Ain’t No Way, Baby!

Have fun with this list of 26 intimacy hints. The bottom line of this article is really a two-fold focus. First, I want you to learn to think of the wants, needs and desires of your spouse before you think of your own. Second, I want you to learn to have fun together again! Let your imagination run wild! Try actually doing the things listed in this article. If you will just do one each week, you will increase the intimacy in your relationship (at least once a week) for six months. Part three of this series will have 26 more hints for increased intimacy in your relationship. Look for it in the Feature Articles Section of K-9 Outfitters, a Division of Damascus Road Enterprises.

Danny Presswood, 2006 All Rights Reserved.

Danny Presswood is a retired US Army Combat (Airborne) Chaplain. He and his wife Cheri now live in the wooded Ozarks hills of SW MO. Presently working on his Doctorate, Danny writes the Feature Articles and Newsletter for K-9 Outfitters, A Division of Damascus Road Enterprises, which offers a plethora of AWESOME discount, luxury, unique, and Handmade in the USA Online Dog Supplies. K-9 Outfitters, A Division of Damascus Road Enterprises

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Danny_Presswood
Article Word Count: 2006
Relationship intimacy

26 Ways To Improve Relationship Intimacy, Part 1
By Danny Presswood


There are very few things in this world that are better than a great marriage or relationship. Antithetically, there are very few things worse than a lousy one! Statistics say half of all marriages end in divorce, and non-marriage relationships are even worse. Let’s face it; great relationships take a lot of work! So how can we “stack the deck” in favor of an AWESOME relationship? This article lists 26 ways to increase intimacy and thus improve your relationship. Part 2 Has 26 more!

1. Learn what your spouse likes in a back rub and practice giving it to them. Discover the difference between a massage that relaxes and one that arouses, and use them appropriately. Both types will improve relationship intimacy.

2. Give your spouse LOTS of compliments, especially in public. Look for opportunities to let everyone know what an AWESOME person you are sharing your life with. Your relationship intimacy can only benefit from this practice.

3. Rediscover those “smiling eyes” that wink, flirt, and gaze longingly at your spouse. Practice the “look of love” that you can share at any time and in any place and thus improve relationship intimacy.

4. Create a Fill-in-the-Blank love letter for him or her and mail it to them, along with a self addressed, stamped return envelope. This one will give your relationship intimacy a real boost.

5. Get your wedding license reduced, laminate it, and carry it proudly in your wallet or purse. Show it to new friends, and they will be impressed by your intimate relationship.

6. Learn to use the telephone answering machine or cell phone voice mail when you are at home together. Prove to your spouse that they are more important than anyone who could be calling on the phone. He or she will know your relationship intimacy matters.

7. Discuss acceptable, unique ways to display affection in public. Holding hands, hugs, linked elbows, kisses, secret words, and so forth. And by all means – use them to improve relationship intimacy!

8. Plan a Day Trip for just the two of you. Include a picnic or eating out. It could be a drive through the countryside, shopping, flea marketing or antiquing, or visiting a new town or quaint village. Practice relationship intimacy during the day.

9. Arrange for a manicure/pedicure and spa treatment for her. Allow her to feel what it’s like to be pampered. You won’t be sorry and neither will your intimate relationship.

10. Create “Coupons” to be redeemed at any time. They could include Any Household Chore, One Free Neck or Foot Rub, A Bubble Bath, A Candlelight Dinner for Two, A Massage, A Night of Love-Making, One Day Together Doing Only What You Want, and so forth. Use your imagination to improve the intimacy in your relationship.

11. Buy tickets to his or her favorite event. It could be pro basketball, baseball, or football. Or it could be the opera, the ballet, or the symphony. Really go the second mile by getting tickets to Pro-Wrestling, a Monster Truck Show, or NASCAR! Or you could go to a fashion show or all night “chick Flicks.” Make a weekend of it, and I’m sure your relationship intimacy will get some enjoyment as well.

12. Say “I’m sorry” the next time you mess up or something goes wrong, and mean it! Then try very hard not to do that thing again. And the next time they ask for forgiveness, grant it with humility. There is something intimate about being vulnerable to one another.

13. Attend Bible Study and Worship together. Believe it or not, intimacy is a God thing. When you are ready, you can add praying together, daily family devotions, teaching Sunday School or a home based Bible Study together, charity work as a couple, and so on. This will boost your spiritual relationship intimacy dramatically.

14. Exercise together. Lift weights, jog, ride bikes, or whatever. Exercise increases your metabolism, helping you keep that girlish figure or cute butt (3 or more 30 minute sessions a week). It also releases endorphins (the same ones released during sexual intimacy). A growing number of studies confirm a correlation between regular aerobic exercise and sexual desire and ability, and intimacy in a relationship.

15. Find ways to assure your spouse that you are thinking of them when you are apart. Call one another at work or text message one another during the day. Send her flowers while she is traveling. Write her letters on the hotel stationary. Call late at night to say I couldn’t sleep without you by my side. Have the pizza boy bring a pizza with the message “All she said was she was dreaming about you!” That will give your intimacy a kick in the pants for sure!

16. Set up a Boys Night out for him. Would he enjoy an all night Bowl-a-Rama? How about cards till dawn? Or tickets to a tractor pull or a gun show? Use your imagination. He will surely show more intimacy as a result.

17. Plan a Girls Night Out for your wife and her best friends. Work with other husbands to plan a great evening where they can escape the routine. She will surely show more intimacy as a result.

18. Practice listening better and more often. Turn off the TV or radio and have a substantive discussion about the activities of the day, the needs of the children, or your plans and dreams for the future. Taking risks with one another is a relationship intimacy bulder.

19. Catch your partner doing something that pleases you. Tell them why you are pleased, and how glad you are to have them in your life. Give them a big hug and kiss, and maybe a pat of encouragement. (Where you give the “Pat” is up to you, depending upon how intimate you feel!)

20. Buy your spouse a new watch. Have it inscribed with “I always have time for you!” Thoughtful gestures like that build relationship intimacy quickly.

21. Purchase an umbrella built for two then take a walk with it the next time it rains. It’ll force you to walk closely together, and you’ll soon be laughing and enjoying the intimacy of closeness.

22. Call your spouse’s parents. Find out about their favorite things as a child. Prepare an evening of their favorite childhood food, dessert, story, song, movie, and so on.

23. Discuss your responses to the question “what can I do to make our relationship and our intimacy more romantic and meaningful for you?” And of course you will want to fulfill those wants, needs, and desires of your spouse at every opportunity.

24. Have a wedding cake made for your anniversary. Invite friends over for cake, punch and wedding pictures. Make sure the friends know just how “special” you think your spouse is. Who knows, someone else’s relationship intimacy might get a boost as a result.

25. Always remember EVERY birthday, anniversary, holiday, and special occasion! You can lavish her with gifts 99 out of 100 times, and I guarantee you the only one she will remember is the one you forgot! If money is an issue, hand pick flowers, make a card, write a song or poem (it doesn’t have to be good – as long as it’s from your heart – she will love it and adore you for writing it!), grill hot dogs, go on a picnic, or whatever. Relationship intimacy doesn’t have to cost money!

26. Use all five of your senses to entertain and/or please your spouse. If you’ve forgotten, the five senses include seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Since this is a “G” rated article, I won’t get into any details. Let’s suffice to say, “Be creative and use your imagination!” You won’t believe how quickly relationship intimacy will climax.

Here is a tool for using these ideas. Go through the entire list together and rate each of the ideas. Ladies, place your numbers on the left side of each item. Gentlemen, place your ratings on the right side of each idea. Use the following rating scale:

1 = My Personal Favorites!

2 = I Would Love For You To Do This For Me!

3 = I Would Love To Do This For You!

4 = Let’s Discuss This Idea Further!

5 = There Ain’t No Way, Baby!

Have fun with this list of 26 ideas. The bottom line of this article is really a two-fold focus. First, I want you to learn to think of the wants, needs and desires of your spouse before you think of your own. Second, I want you to learn to have fun together again! Let your imagination run wild! Try actually doing the things listed in this article. If you will just do one each week, you will increase the intimacy in your relationship (at least once a week) for six months. Part two of this series has 26 more ways to improve relationship intimacy. Look for it in the Feature Articles Section of K-9 Outfitters, a Division of Damascus Road Enterprises.

Danny Presswood, 2006 All Rights Reserved.

Danny Presswood is a retired US Army Combat (Airborne) Chaplain. He and his wife Cheri now live in the wooded Ozarks hills of SW MO. Presently working on his Doctorate, Danny writes the Feature Articles and Newsletter for K-9 Outfitters, A Division of Damascus Road Enterprises, which offers a plethora of AWESOME discount, luxury, unique, and Handmade in the USA Online Dog Supplies. K-9 Outfitters, A Division of Damascus Road Enterprises

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Relationship intimacy

Relationship intimacy is something we can all search for, hope for. Here's a few insights and ideas on how to we might achieve relationship intimacy.