• Love & Relationships

4 relationship resolutions to make this year

By Diana Odero on

Should we dare have resolutions for the next year given what chaos this year brought ? I say yes, we should!

2020 has been quite the year! We all had grand plans, spoke all the positivity on a year that we thought would be the best one ever and then the rollercoaster happened. We were tossed and turned with no warning.

But should we dare have resolutions for the next year given what chaos this year brought? I say yes, we should! Resolutions do not need to be set in stone, but they can be a guide to how you would like the next twelve months to be.

• Be more present with my partner

  Corona season had us either away from our partners or stuck with them in the same house for months. Either circumstance can cause a lot of friction in your relationship especially when you are used to having a routine that allowed some time apart for those living together and some time together for those in long distance relationships. I have learnt a lot more about my partner this year than I would have had there not been a pandemic and a drastic change to our dynamic. We were forced to be present and I realized this was vital in growing our connection. I want to continue doing that, being more attentive to their thoughts, needs and feelings and vice versa, resulting in strengthening our bond.

• Learn/understand/practice my friends’ love languages

  This is something particularly important that I came to learn this year. Understanding your partner’s love language or what makes your friends happy, what brings them joy, what gets them excited and motivated and putting that into practice to bring a little light into their lives even for just a moment. Love languages should not be restricted to couples; your friends need words of affirmation, acts of service, physical touch, gifts, and quality time too. I want to continue practicing this next year and the years to come, building quality bonds with people I hold dear.

• Travel more locally

  2020 forced us to really appreciate our current surroundings. We had to learn how to have fun in our own homes and cities. What I would like to do more of next year is travel locally within my own country; my own town and I would like to do this with my family. We do not often travel as a family, so this will be a nice change that lets us catch up on each other’s lives, learn more about each other and create great memories.

• Have more unique dates

  Piggybacking off of my last point above, getting creative with dates during lockdown with no access to most restaurants, shopping malls or clubs is not easy but I think it is more fun because of how unique a date can be. I plan to do more out-of-the-box date ideas and skip the cliché dinners and late nights out. Picnics in the park with food you cooked is one idea, taking a road-trip not too far out to catch the sunset away from the city buzz is another. Even something as simple as turning your home into a spa for a day, treating your partner to massages, pillow talk, a movie, etc. is a great and inexpensive way to get together.

I foresee a great 2021 already!

Are you going to make any resolutions of your own? Let us know!