Many people look for happiness to make them satisfied and stay long in their marriage.
Any marriage, however, does not guarantee constant happiness as there's bound to be trials and challenges along the way.
Relationship experts have, in fact, found a deeper factor that leads people to sustain their marital bond and it's not even all about happiness.
It's about self-expansion.
It refers to making the relationship more meaningful and satisfying by having enriching experiences with one's partner.
According to psychologists, this is achieved through effective communication, a stable mental health and social support.
In these modern days, relationship experts have observed that couples use their relationship to gain more knowledge and enriching experiences.
They point out that the greater the level of this so-called self-expansion, the greater is the commitment of the couple to their relationship and the satisfaction they gain.
This then serves a very valuable tip for married couples who wish to keep their bond for a lifetime.
Instead of looking for acts or gestures from your spouse to make you happy, find ways to learn from your partner in whatever way possible.
This helps in one's personal growth.
In short, don't stop getting to know your spouse on a deeper level.
Get to know his or her friends, spend quality time in new places and share interesting news or other information you have gathered.
Eventually, you will find yourself more knowledgeable about a lot of things allowing you to broaden your horizon.
Don't just sit there and wait for your partner to make the move.
Take action as well because after all, you are also responsible for nurturing your relationship to keep it balanced as much as possible despite the trials that come your way.
Some traits that can help in your relationship are being lighthearted, funny and creative.
Isn't it that people usually learn from their partner's traits which they don't have? Having a spouse who has different interests provides new social opportunities for the other.
Eventually, one influences the other and is even more likely to adopt the traits of his or her partner.
When this happens, the relationship is bound for keeps.
While it's not all the time that you're happy, there are great opportunities for you to learn about life in general and your spouse in particular.
And because you see your spouse as an important source of knowledge and creativity, you are more likely to stay committed in your marriage and sustain it for a long time.
If you value personal growth, then you won't mind sharing your experience with your husband or wife.
Through your marriage, you will soon discover that the traits you did not have before are now part of you and the activities you did not have any interest in the past you now find interesting to do.
So you see that happiness is not a given but a result of something good that you do in your marriage.
It's all about learning from the relationship and being committed to stay in it through good times and bad.