The beautiful thing about life is that we can share our entire life with the love of our life. Relationship often goes in cycle and needs to be balanced to have continuity. What and who is most important person in our life will drive the need to have a relationship in the first place. As all relationship, for it to work, we must be working at it constantly. Not on valentine day, anniversary day, desperate days, good or bad days but every day. No matter how great a relationship is every relationship always has an area of improvement. Below I briefly highlight ten ways to improving a relationship;

1. Be accountable: Being accountable is a moral conduct in a relationship. Accountability is required for a strong relationship. This includes owning your mistakes by being accountable for your flaws, giving your partner benefit of doubt and working tirelessly on your weaknesses.
2. Forgive, Forget, Ignore: I once read somewhere that ‘the first person to forgive is the strongest, the first person to forget is the bravest, and the first person to ignore is the happiest. Accommodate one another and choose to ignore many things except they are strong threat to the continuity of your relationship or marriage.
3. Be available: Relationship is not meant for the capable but those who are available. Available to spend time with one another; available to help each other; and available to support and encourage one another.
4. Purposeful Conversation: Do not open a conversation to get back at one another, or make them feel inferior or guilty, remind them of their mistakes, open old wounds, get your own pound of flesh or expose their weaknesses. And try not to trash important discussion when you are experiencing mood swings or angry. Cool down, easy tiger!
5. Be sensitive: Be sensitive to each others needs. Remember you have different life experience, exposure, expectation, education and expertise. Be sensitive!
6. Pray: This is not just a religious exercise. There is nothing as important as speaking life into your partner. It means so much than Queen Elizabeth II or Pope Francis speaking to them. Pray with one another, pray for one another and pray on one another. A couple that prays together sticks together.
7. Be supportive: Nothing is as important as being each others number one fan. Be supportive of their choice of career, food, dressing, friends, outings, entertainment, business, hair-do, books…
8. Patience: He is fool that turns irk at every instance of emotional burst. Patient is key in having a fulfilling relationship. Sometimes you have to tarry and be patient as the other partner makes certain changes and be willing to help them in making transition in any ramification of their life. Be patient for a moment, be patient for a day, be patient for a life time. We can either chose to be happy or right.
9. Invest: You are only vested in a relationship that you invest not the one you constantly divest from. Invest your time, energy, resources, leverage, connections, money and all in any relationship that you want to see grow. The returns would not be instant but years later, you will be happy you made those investments. Invest in one another!
10. Be responsible: A responsible couple will not cheat on one another. Excuse me; I do not have ‘open relationship’ in my dictionary. Being responsible is giving as much you want given, doing no less of what we expect of others, having to courage to right our wrongs and be the very person we espoused to be from the very first moment of the relationship.