Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Six Tips For Close and Intimate Relationships - How to Be a Better Friend and Lover in the New Year

So here we are at the threshold of a new year and decade. No doubt many are making out their lists of grand resolutions to improve their lives over the next year. At or near the top of most of those lists will be the expressed desire to cultivate closer and more intimate relationships. This article provides seven tips on how to become a better friend and lover in the coming year.



To Be a Better Friend and Lover Become a Better Listener

The first tip to become to cultivate close and intimate relationships is to improve your listening skills. Most people want to share about themselves and few have learned the fine art of listening. Listening is a participation sport. It is not merely sitting passively by as the other person rambles on about this and that. To listen well means to be actively engaged with consistent eye contact, summarizing the thoughts shared, and asking clarifying question.

To Improve Your Friendships and Love Life Spend Time with the Other Person

The second tip to cultivate close and intimate relationships is to make time in your calendar. The depth of a friendship or love life depends on the amount of quality and quantity time you spend with that other person.

To Be a Better Friend and Lover Strengthen the Emotional Bond

Spending time together is one thing; spending meaningful time together that strengthens the emotional bond takes creative planning. A third tip to cultivate close and intimate relationships is to plan dates or get-togethers that engage all five senses and provide an experience beyond the ordinary or mundane.

To Improve Your Friendships and Love Life Learn a New Conflict Resolution Skill



Conflict is a normal part of close relationships and can be conduits for even greater intimacy. So, the fourth tip for more intimate and meaningful relationships is to learn a new skill on how to handle conflict more constructively. If you need tips on how to creatively deal with tense situations, there are many wonderful resources online or in the bookstore including The Magic of Making Up .

To Be a Better Friend and Lover Give Unexpected Gifts at Unexpected Times

This tip comes from the movie Finding Forrester and especially applies to guy/girl relationships. In the movie the older character William Forrester tells his young counterpart that "the key to a woman's heart is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time." Of course to give a gift that will make an impact, you will need to know what kind of unexpected gift will truly move your friend or lover's heart. This means you have to spend time with them and carefully listen to them.

To Improve Your Friendships and Love Life Touch Others in Appropriate Ways

The sixth and final tip for forging intimacy into your relationships is to employ touch in appropriate ways. Touch is a very powerful tool for developing closer relationships with all your loved ones. Learning how to use touch in appropriate ways will lead to more meaningful friendships. Before using touch with another person of the opposite sex, it is important not to impose yourself on them but to gain permission first.

In these ways, you can grow your relationships in the coming year.

Source: Ezine

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