Marriage is supposed to be a source of comfort. It’s meant to help you mitigate stress and pressure from other areas from other areas of your life.

This is not to say that marriage should be hunky-dory all the time. It means that the good should always outweigh the bad. Otherwise, the stress evolves into bigger marriage problems which cause you more stress.

The way to avoid getting stuck in a cycle of stress and marriage problems is to deal with stress as soon as it rears its ugly head in your marriage.

Communicate

I cannot overemphasize how vital good communication is for destressing your marriage. There is no better way to deal with marital stress than to talk with your spouse as soon as problems arise.

Tell them how you feel, and then listen,  really listen to your spouse’s point of view. Don’t assume your partner knows how you feel.

It’s can be scary to bring certain things up, but in the end it will a lot less stressful than keeping bottled up.  

Don’t ignore little issues

A little stress can develop into a huge marriage conflict over time. So keep your eyes peeled for red flags and deal with them as soon as they arise.

Work together

Marriage is a partnership. To have a happy marriage, you must work together as a team. Each of you needs to do his or her part to keep stress out of the marriage.

See your partner’s point of view

It helps to understand where your partner is coming from because it increases your understanding of the problem. Don’t be so committed to proving that you are right and your partner is wrong that you miss the big picture. Make your partner feel that his or her opinion is valued, heard and acknowledged.

Seek counseling

The best time to seek marriage counseling is when a problem is still small and solvable. Waiting until things get “bad enough” before seeking counselling is the easiest way to guarantee that things will get bad enough.

Counseling doesn’t mean that your marriage is in dire trouble. It means that  you care enough for your relationship to do whatever it takes to deal with conflict and stress before it gets out of hand.

Regularly communicating with your spouse and  confronting problems head on goes a long way in de-stressing your marriage and making it happier and healthier.