Are you one of the many who has a tendency to complain about your partner to others? Your friends, your family…the guy/gal at the grocery store checkout counter? While this is a very common occurrence in the world, it’s actually quite a harmful one. Not only are you propagating a negative view of your spouse to your friends and family, but you’re perpetuating negative feelings about your spouse to yourself. Instead of “venting” about your partner’s latest flaw or faux pas, try holding your tongue. Or better yet, try to come up with something positive to say about your partner. You may not be feeling particularly positive about your relationship in the moment, but try to find something good to say, even if it seems stupid or inconsequential. It will help you to get in a positive thought pattern, rather than continuing and exacerbating the negative feelings you were already hanging on to.

Chapter one of our relationship advice book gives you the tools to help you propagate positive feelings about your partner, rather than negative ones! We believe this is the first step in moving towards a happy and healthy relationship.

Aaron and I learned long ago that one of the main reasons we fight is because we're hungry. That's right. We've ignored our body's hunger signals for so long, for one reason or another, that we experience a drop in blood sugar, and therefore, find it impossible to be nice.

The most recent incident happened to us yesterday. I had just woken up from a long nap, Aaron was just getting home from a client, and both of us were starving. However, we had only a few minutes to get out the door for our movie/dinner/party date. Fast forward 10 minutes, Aaron is wandering the house aimlessly, trying to figure out if he should change, the hungry pregnant woman is bawling because she can't find the shoes she needs, and every word out of our mouths toward one another is less than kind.

Fortunately, we know better than to take these moments to heart. We both knew we were starving and cranky, so we ignored the other's harsh comments for the time being. Of course, once we'd grabbed some snacks and were finally on our way, we apologized and hugged it out, and everything was right with the world once again.

We talk about how to handle your partner on those "bad days" or in those bad moments in chapter 5 of The Happiest Couple on the Block. If you want to learn more about how to handle yourself and your partner in such situations, make sure to pick up the book today!