How satisfied are you with your relationship?

[Aloe]

Plz answer only if you have lived together for at least 1 year.

[Boethius]

Aloe, I think your poll is too broad.  I am happy in my relationship, but I believe one should never be completely satisfied, as complacency sets in.  I always want to take our relationship to a higher place, spiritually.  I need to be pushed and sometimes, so does he.

[Muzh]

Nah, we are still honeymooning. 

[mendeleyev]

Aloe, I agree with both Boethius and Muzh. Sure it is normal to have spats from time to time but there are a few things that help me keep everything in perspective.

First, recognize the value of your spouse (get ready to see me labeled as putting RW on a pedestal). I know beyond a shadow of doubt that she is a gift from God to my life. I would be so incomplete without her. Frankly, she is cool! She is a good kisser too.

Second, respect your spouse. My father taught his sons to treat wives with respect--even if sitting on a sofa watching TV, when my mother entered the room he stood and waited for her to sit at his side. I do that today. Heck, standing up often ends in a nice kiss before sitting down. That alone is worth the effort.

Third, sow positive results with your words. My father taught us to think of at least 3 nice compliments every day. He did to my mother and she would often beam, even when mad at him! Compliments take the edge off a disagreement. Call me "smooth" but I'm telling you than when in the heat of a disagreement, a phrase like "while I don't agree, you are a very intelligent lady so I will respect your position" often ends in a bout of kissing and other nice things. It also makes it easier for one of you to move closer to the other in agreement to permanently end the argument.

The practice of 3 sincere compliments and/or expressions of thanks daily sets the stage for respect. I'd suggest you vary them and include her character strengths in addition to physical attributes as "you have nice boobs" only goes so far if that is the only compliment in your vocabulary.

I'm old enough to remember "Dear Abby" and the "Ann Landers" advice columns in newspapers. Often they'd receive letters from couples that simply didn't love each other anymore. Their advice was to began a series of compliments each day. Those wise ladies understood, like my father, that genuine compliments lead to respect and respect gives way to love. Invariably those that followed the advice would write back a few months later with stories of new feelings and second honeymoons.

Do we think alike 100% of the time? Hardly.

Am I 1000% satisfied? Very.

[Aloe]

That's a great post, Mendeleyev, thanks 

[mies]

Plz answer only if you have lived together for at least 1 year.

It will be probably easier to answer your question/poll if you rephrased it "what % of the time are you satisfied with your relationship?"

Or even more neutral "What % of time (how many hours in a month) do you think that you would like to change something about your relationship?"

Because if you ask a person how they are satisfied in general with their relationship - their answer will be affected by the way they feel at the moment. Also, saying "I am mostly satisfied with my relationship despite the occasional issues" is different than saying "I am 80% satisfied with my relationship" - because the number looks somewhat scary and indicates deficiencies in the relationship. Whereas if the person answers "about 5 hours in a month I think that I would like to change something in my relationship" - does not necessarily reflect how the person feels about their partner, but does indicate whether they would like to improve certain aspects of their marriage/relationship.