Romantic relationships are a partnership of two people who have decided to share in the joys and sorrows of a committed life together. Married couples take the vows: “For better or worse, for richer or poorer” – Stop right there. People say vows similar to the ones just written but do we really mean them? – especially the part about “for richer or poorer”? Even though we say these words – if we are totally honest with ourselves we really mean: “but I hope it’s for richer”. Common sense dictates no one in their right mind wants to be poor. I mean honestly, get real.

Following are 7 simple ways or guidelines for handling money issues throughout your relationship so you don’t have to end up fighting about money. Consider these guidelines to be your relationship tools for keeping the spark alive in your relationship whether you are dealing with the “richer” or “poorer” times in your relationship.

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Doesn’t it drive you absolutely crazy when someone wears sunglasses indoors? I know I don’t like it at all. I can’t help but think: “What are you trying to hide?” When someone does not allow me to see their eyes I always feel a little queasy when I look at them. This queasiness is magnified a thousand times if I am trying to have a conversation with someone who is wearing sunglasses. All my uncomfortable feelings about someone wearing sunglasses is squarely based on the fact that I cannot see their eyes. This inability to see someone’s eyes and not be able to make eye contact with them when having a conversation leaves one with the same feeling: “What are you hiding from me?’ or “what don’t you want me to know?”

It cannot be emphasized enough the value of making direct eye contact when communicating with our partner.

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Fighting – or conflict if we want to get a little fancy with our words here – is a normal – even healthy part of any intimate relationship. You know this is true. Unless you are a “Stepford Wife” or “Stepford Girlfriend”; do you remember this movie? The one where the wives were killed and replaced with robots who were programmed to look and act like the perfect wife? Ugh, gross – I am cringing. Anyway, since you are not a Stepford Wife (thank goodness) – you and your partner are not going to feel and think the same way about every issue and/or situation that comes along. In other words, you and your partner – both having a mind of your own, are bound to disagree and hence, fight at times.

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I would be willing to bet you that even Cupid has had a couple of fights with his/her partner – leaving a few arrows piercing his heart. So if the quintessential lover, Cupid, can’t avoid a fight or two, is it any wonder all couples fight? The secret for a happy, romantic relationship is not the ability to avoid fighting (an impossible task for mere mortals like ourselves) but how we fight. Yes, there is indeed a right way to fight. Read on and discover Dr. Patty Ann’s 7 simple and effective ways to fight and resolve conflict between you and your partner.

1. As the emotional heat gets turned up, and you know you are only heading down the path of an all-out blow-out between yourself and your partner, give your self a time-out. Before you enter the emotional point of no return, where all your reasoning and common sense flies out the window, take a deep breath and you and your partner should both agree to walk away from the argument until you both cool off and calmer emotions prevail.

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It is amazing how many myths are out there for keeping romance alive in your relationship. Woman’s magazines, radio talk shows, TV shows and newspapers are filled with inaccurate information dealing with relationship advice, some of which includes the topics of  how to keep your romance alive, how to keep your man happy, how to skyrocket your sex life, how to…, how to…, how to…and on and on and on. And what is so incredible is that so much of this information is wrong, false, and inaccurate and yet it abounds in mythical proportions. I often wonder if their is there some “myth maestro” out there who spends his days and nights making up all sorts of crap about everything under the sun. Then he throws this absurd information out there –  “spins it off as truth” and then watches as  peoples relationships unravel within the midst of all this erroneous information.

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All relationships require some effort and creativity to keep your s-e-x life fired up. Many couples make the mistake of focusing on the frequency, or lack thereof, of the sex in their relationship. This approach will get you no more sex in your relationship than talking about money will actually get you money.

The key for re-igniting your sex life is to focus on the intimacy in your relationship and the sex will come. Concentrate on improving the intimacy in your relationship and the sensual aspect of your relationship will naturally be re-ignited. Relationships that have sensual closeness experience increased intimacy. These are the emotions that act as a spark needed to re-ignite the feelings that connect us to our partner. These sparks are the connections that lead to the firing up of our sex life in our relationship. Without these sparks our sex life crumbles to ashes, taking our relationship with them.

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Listen up now. The single best way to increase our sense of attachment to our partner is to increase what is nicknamed: “the love hormone”. Sounds simple, right? Well it is.

The formal name for “the love hormone” is known as oxytocin. When we experience happiness, we experience an increase in this “love hormone”. When this “love hormone” is increased in our body, we experience an increase in our sense of attachment to our partner. So what’s the best way to increase oxytocin… our “love hormone”?

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Let me get right to the point. “What’s stress got to do with sex”? Everything!! What? “Everything”! Absolutely!!! Stress is pretty high up there as on one of the top reasons for why couples are not having sex! So I thought it would be important to identify some stressors in our lives that might be getting in the way of, or actually completely killing, our sex drive.

Some people are capable of doing many things well while under stress; but being in the mood for sex and/or feeling sexy usually isn’t one of them.

So enough jabbering here and let’s get on with identifying 5 common stressors that decrease or eliminate one’s sex drive. (And remember, some of these sex drive killers have nothing to do with how you feel about your partner – what a sense of relief!).

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Success in anything we do requires commitment, effort and investment of time and energy. The same is true for your relationship. Take a moment and think about how much commitment effort and energy you invest in your relationship. Be honest with yourself. Have you put the kids, your job, housework, your hobby, etc. before your relationship? Have you, albeit unintentionally, neglected your relationship – assuming it will always be there for you?

It is really easy to get caught up in “life”; especially in today’s world of multi-tasking and rushing around all over the place going from activity to activity. But doing all this running around often leaves our most intimate relationship simmering on the backburner – and if we spend too much time ignoring this relationship – we are bound to get burned.

Following are Dr. Patty Ann’s 3 Simple Emotional Investments which will triple the Love and Intimacy in Your Relationship! These investments are easy, simple and very effective!

While shopping in the grocery store the other day I heard 2 women talking about how dull and boring their relationships have become. One woman was saying how every Friday night she and her partner go to the movies and  eat dinner out at the same Italian Restaurant. Her friend was describing how every Saturday night for the past 5 years she and her partner go out to dinner at the same restaurant with the same couple. Yawn! It was clear to me that these relationships were in a huge rut and you could clearly see the boredom on the face of these 2 women. So how do you keep your relationship alive and out of this type of rut?

Variety is the spice of life and it will keep your relationship alive! Change your routine, do things differently.

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