Let the sunshine in!

One thing that can change a mood in mere minutes is letting the sun into your life. For us that live in climates were we go through months of cold and dreary days we can get a little stir crazy. There are times where we spend all day inside and never even see the sun. This is proven to depress some people a little bit. We here in the midwest call them the winter blues and they can happen more than in the winter. Recently we had a bout of several cloudy days in a row without sunshine and the mood around town was pretty depressing. However once the sunshine returned it was like magic people were out having a great time, smiling and laughing while they were out.

Relationships can be effected by these lack of sunshine, too. If possible, if you live in these long cold spell climates, I would suggest taking your vacation in the middle of it to go somewhere for some sun. The whole family can benefit from bringing a little sunshine back with you from this vacation. For you relationship it can be like recharging your batteries. Not only will it break up the winter blues but it will also make you feel better and get you out of that rut that you are in as the winter drags on. It will show you the light at the end of the tunnel and give you hope that spring is just around the corner. Plus it could jump start a cold libido, too.

Now at this time of year you can make sure to open up all curtains the would let sunshine into your house. Get outside as much as possible, plan activities that will get you away from the television and computer and breath life back into your relationships. If you have to work see if you can do it outside, get a laptop and find a comfy spot and type away for the day. The fresh air as well as the sunshine will do amazing things for you.

Give the gift of time!

There is one thing that you can give our partner that is the most valuable gift ever. That is the gift of time. This can be given in many different ways. You can give them time to themselves, to read, or relax or just do whatever they want to do. You can also give them the gift of your time, taking time out of your schedule to spend quality time with them. Take a day off work to enjoy it with them or to take them someplace special. You can never go wrong giving the gift of time no matte how you do it. Maybe you agree to watch the children while they exercises or take them away so they can have a totally quite house to do whatever they want. Again this is the most valuable item you can distribute to them and maybe you would like this gift also at times. Don't be afraid to ask for it. Tell them you would like them to schedule you in some time or that you really need to get something accomplished and need some alone time. If your partner truly loves you they will understand the gift will be given.

Above is the great painting by Salvador Dali

Put your feelings in a journal for each other to read.

Here is a great way to let your partner know how you are feeling. Start a feelings journal that you can keep by your bed. What is a feelings journal?, you might ask. Well it is a little book where you write anything you would like your partner to know. It can be things that bother you, or the way they make you feel great, to even things you would like to discover or try. The subject matter can range between bills to sex. The point is the journal is a way to communicate things to each other. The way it works is you both set a time for you to write your feelings in the journal. Make these different time I would suggest a time where the two of you are apart and not only do you write your feeling in your feelings journal you read what you partner has wrote. A feelings journal is a great way to express to each other feelings that you might not be comfortable with just talking during your normal conversations. Now here is the kicker you don't ever confront you partner on what they wrote! You take it in put it in your mind, you can act on it later but you, never ever read their statement and go right out to confront them about it. I think once you get in the habit of writing and reading a feelings journal you will become closer. One last word of advise this is not a bashing journal if all you are going to do is write down things that upset you then you might as well throw the journal out the window now. Sure sometimes you will want to address something negative but most of the time it should be positive and build your relationship. Try it out I am sure you will enjoy it and it only takes a couple of minutes a day. Time well spent.