WED Day

Listening to your partner.

I guess it's fairly obvious to say that any good relationship requires a fair amount communicating, and the cornerstone of good communication is listening. Not waiting for your turn to speak, but really truly listening. This is sometimes easier said than done -- especially after a long day when you just want to loose yourself in some "Real Housewives" nonsense for a while -- so here are a a few things to keep in mind:

Listening isn't just being quite while your partner talks, it's the art of digesting what they're telling you. You might have to should mute the TV and close your lap top.

Look your partner in the eye -- it let's them know that what they say is important to you, and will help with the whole digestion thing above.

Put yourself in their shoes -- helpful in a disagreement, yes, but also helpful to simply better understand their day-to-day.

You don't need to have the last word, in an argument or in conversation. Sometimes we all just need to talk, needing simply to be heard. Sometimes the best gift you can give a person is just to listen to what they need to say.

Image by Garry Winogrand via.