A marriage is something that is meant to last a lifetime. At least, that is the ideal. And, many couples do make it through their lives while staying married together until truly death does them part.

Still, the ability to stay together and stick out the tough times does not necessarily mean that the marriage is a happy or healthy one. People who are married to each other are not meant to just kill time as a married couple. Their life together needs to have frequent moments of joy and an underlying sense of contentedness.

As the years go by in a marriage, it can be easy to lose sight of whether you are truly happy together. It is hard to know what is normal and healthy and what needs to be fixed.

For example, everyone has a thing or two about their marriage that they wish were different. The trouble is, it is sometimes hard to know whether we should just put up with those things about our marriage we do not love, or whether we should actively be trying to make them better. In order to differentiate these things, sometimes it can help to get a little bit of perspective on the situation.

If you are wondering, “Do I have a healthy relationship with my husband?”, here are 5 ways to tell:

1. You willingly and often choose to spend time together:
Most people are so busy these days that it can seem like that they sometimes go days between having real quality time to themselves. And, it can be equally hard sometimes to find time for one’s spouse.
However, no matter whether you are super busy or whether your life is fairly quiet and clutter-free at this point in time, one sign of a healthy relationship is that you both go out of your way to make time to be together as often as you can.

2. You each show evidence of thoughtfulness toward each other:
Most relationships are somewhat one-sided, whereby either the husband or the wife is a “giver” and their spouse is a “taker.” Still, regardless of what role you and your husband each play, there should be times when you both show each other a measure of thoughtfulness and kindness. This goes beyond just doing what is expected, but rather it has to do with going out of your way to be kind to your spouse.

3. Both of you plan for your long-term future together:
You and your husband probably have different roles in your relationship and in your household. For example, maybe one person handles bringing in income for the family while the other manages household expenses. But regardless of your specific roles, a good sign that your relationship is doing well is if you both often speak and think in terms of your long-term future together. Doing so indicates that you are planning to be together for a long time.

4. You laugh at each other’s jokes:
Laughter and humor is a cornerstone of any healthy relationship. If you can laugh at each other’s jokes and truly find each other funny, mark one for yourselves in the “healthy” column.

5. You have a healthy sex life:
For most people, having a regular sexual relationship is a sign of a healthy marriage. You do not need to be doing it twice a day to qualify, either. As long as both of you enjoy sex and have it frequently enough to more or less satisfy both of you, consider your sex life to be a healthy one.

Consider these 5 ways to tell whether you have a healthy relationship. If you have concluded that your relationship needs a bit of work (or a lot of work), don’t worry. Just get yourselves on the path to learning how to make your relationship a healthy one again.

Author Bio: Get your relationship back on track with expert relationship advice from someone who has saved thousands of marriages at: Need A Relationship Tune-Up.

Category: Relationships
Keywords: Do I Have A Healthy Relationship With My Husband, 5 Ways To Tell