Guest ContributorAbove image: Encouraging couples to strengthen their relationships is a smart move when it comes to everyone’s well-being. With this in mind, Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services is running their Healthy Relationships campaign over two weeks this year.
When you consider that CAF members should always be in mental readiness mode, it makes a lot of sense to promote healthy relationships.
Of course, spouses and partners of CAF members need to be in strong mental readiness mode too.
Military Lifestyle Challenges
Military spouses and partners deal with a variety of military lifestyle challenges, on top of having to hold the fort down whenever their loved ones are away serving. Encouraging couples to strengthen their relationships is a smart move when it comes to everyone’s well-being.
With this in mind, Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services is running their Healthy Relationships campaign over two weeks this year, from Oct 17 to 30. In general, being in a healthy relationship feels good.
Healthy Relationships are Beneficial
Healthy relationships can make us feel happy and mentally strong. When we find ourselves in an unhealthy one, the opposite is true. We can feel stressed out about every little thing and even be unhappy in our day-to-day lives. Yet over time, all relationships will evolve and change.
Have you ever wondered what sets apart a healthy relationship from an unhealthy one? In the past, experts believed that major betrayals are what led to divorce.
A Successful Marriage
Relationship experts Drs. John and Julie Gottman spent the last four decades studying romantic relationships to find out what makes a marriage successful.
They report that couples who remain together are more likely to be attentive to their partner’s needs and wants. They’ve found that following a “magic relationship ratio” of five positive interactions for every one negative interaction can predict a couple’s ability to stay together.
This is interesting when you consider that repeatedly giving your partner annoyed or angry glances can have the same eventual impact on your marriage as infidelity.
In fact, they were able to predict a marriage’s outcome correctly 90 per cent of the time based on following this concept.
This is interesting when you consider that repeatedly giving your partner annoyed or angry glances can have the same eventual impact on your marriage as infidelity.
Healthy Relationship Resources
So what can you do if you think that your relationship could benefit from more interactions that are positive?
You can follow Military Family Services on Facebook and learn about our resources throughout the Healthy Relationships campaign.
Also, you can check-in with your local MFRC to see what they have to offer during the campaign, as well as throughout the year. Of course, more information is always available at www.cafconnection.ca/healthyrelationships.
