There is no crystal ball to predict that a particular friend will turn out to be a reliable, positive relationship in your life or, by contrast, that a negative association will cause you emotional distress, or worse. Since destructive or negative friends are not always that easy to spot, being forewarned is forearmed, as the saying goes. Some friends may be betrayers from the start; others may turn into betrayers because of what’s going on in their lives or because of changes in their personality. Sometimes you need to consider what your friend is really like within the contexts of all the behaviors. I can’t emphasize enough that you need to consider the root cause.

Six traits to consider that could pose a problem in friendship:

1. The Promise Breaker
2. The Double-crosser

This negative friend betrays you big-time. It could happen when someone does something to hurt you, such as spreading a malicious rumor about you. Or it could be an emotional double-cross

3. The Self-absorbed
4. The Discloser

When you say to this friend, “This is just between us,” she nods her head but unfortunately that promise will last only as long as it takes her to get to her phone or e-mail. Telling this person a secret makes her feel vulnerable and uncomfortable.

5. The Competitor

A little bit of competition is healthy and to be expected. An appropriate amount of competition will motivate and stimulate. But too much competition between friends starts to destroy the friendship. One of the primary ingredients in a positive friendship is that one or both friends feel that they can be “themselves” and that they don’t have to put on airs or impress one another. Competition implies a race in which one wins and the other loses; those conditions are quite the opposite of what someone typically expects in a positive friendship, especially a close or best one.

Friends who are competitors probably compete in every area of their lives and find it difficult or impossible to ease up even when it comes to close or best friends. They may compete at work, at school, and even in community affairs.

6. The Fault-finder

Nothing you do, say, or wear is good enough for this overly critical friend. The Fault-finder was probably raised by extremely judgmental parents who were also rearing equally hypercritical siblings.

2. Hear the Music

3. Snug. Canoodle. Get It On

4. Nurture Your Spirituality - Survey after survey shows that people with strong religious faith — of any religion or denomination — are happier than those who are irreligious.

5. Move Your Body – We’ve all heard about a “runner’s high,” but there are plenty of other ways to achieve that feeling. Dance. Play a sport. Work out as hard as you can. Take a walk so your stress will take a hike.

6. Laugh Big

7. Do Something Nice for Someone Else - Hold a door open for someone at the bank, give someone directions if they look lost or make a point to compliment three people on your way to work. Small or big, directed at friends or strangers, random acts of kindness make the person performing the kind act happier when they’re grouped together.

8. Make More Money Than Your Peers – Money as an absolute may not make you a happier person but making more money than others in your age group does, according to a sociological study done in 2005 by researchers at Pennsylvania State University.

9. Seek Positive Emotion as a Path to Success – Happiness can lead to success, rather than just the other way around. Happy individuals are predisposed to seek out new opportunities and set new goals.

10. Identify With Your Heritage – Appreciating one’s culture creates and strengthens bonds with others who share that culture and also allows one to identify and appreciate cultural difference.

11. Use a Happy Memory as a Guide – Learn to scan your memory bank for your strengths, talents, passions, interests, practical coping skills, and earlier potential — whether it’s actualized or not.

12. Play the Part of an Optimist – Optimism is a learned skill and there are a variety of ways to acquire it.

13. Try New Things - If you often do one thing that makes you happy, then try another.

14. Tell Your Story to Someone – Talking about the good and bad things that happen can lead to happiness — even if it is from opposite ends of the phone line.

15. Balance Work and Home

16. Be Like the Danes: Keep Expectations Realistic

17. Make Time – Maybe set aside two nights in your calendar to focus on those things that you’d like to spend more time on.

18. Visualize Happiness

19. Smile – Go ahead. It won’t hurt you. It might actually make you happier, too.

20. Marry Happy – Research shows that depressed singles receive greater psychological benefit — from things such as intimacy and emotional closeness — from getting married than those who are not depressed. And for the married population, first of all, congratulations: people in committed relationships have been shown to be happier than those who aren’t, despite how satisfying their marriages actually are.

Source: http://www.time.com/time

If you open it, close it.

If you turn it on, turn it off .

If you unlock it, lock it up.

If you break it, admit it.

If you make a mess, clean it up.

If you move it, put it back.

If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.

If you don’t know how to operate it, leave it alone.

If it’s none of your business, don’t ask questions.

If ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

If it brighten someone’s day, say it.

If it tarnish someone’s reputation, keep it to yourself.

According to www.loveandrespect.com, “Love is a woman’s deepest need and respect is man’s deepest need. I believe this is based on the Bible.”

2. Keep your love growing by making adjustments

The good book says, ‘Look for one another’s interests and not just your own.’ (Philippians 2:4), Thinking of only yourself and not being prepared to meet the needs of the other kills a relationship. It’s called selfishness!

      3. Keep your love growing by meeting each other’s needs

A husband who does the dishes, fixes things around the house, cares for the maintenance of the yard and car (Acts of Service) does not understand it when his wife says, “You never hug me.” (Physical Touch). Or, “Why don’t you spend time with me? “ (Quality Time). Or, “You never buy me flowers?” (Gifts) Or, “You never encourage me?” (Words of Affirmation) But, if her expression of love is Acts of Service, she’ll feel so loved because her husband does so many things for her. When you discover the best way your partner wants to express and receive love your whole world will look right and you both will rise to a new level.

Let’s look at three of these love expressions in more depth: encouragement, quality time and showing affection.

Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Your time is your life that is why the greatest gift you can give someone is you time.

It is not enough just to say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Relationships takes time and effort, and the best way to spell love is “T-I-M-E.”

The essence of love is not we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give ourselves.

Men, in particular, often don’t understand this. Many men said, “I don’t understand my wife and kids. I provide everything that they need. What more could they want?” They want you! Your ears, your eyes, your time, your attention, your presence, your focus-your time. Nothing can take the place of that. Love concentrates so intently on another that you forget yourself at that moment. Attention says. “I value you enough to give you my post precious asset-my time.”

You can give without loving, but cannot love without giving. Love means giving up- yielding my preferences, comfort, goals, security, money, energy or time for the benefit of someone else.

by Rick Warren ( Purpose Driven Life)

Have you every tried smiling at complete strangers? I have. Almost without fail they smile back at you. People like to be smiled at, I can’t explain it, but its true. I have smiled at people walking down the street and most will smile back. That in turn makes me feel good because someone is smiling at me. Weird but true.

source:http://m0smith.freeshell.org/blog-romance/2006/04/importance-of-smiling.html

For me, long distance relationships works, yes it does! For almost a year now, I am miles away with my family, specifically with my husband. It maybe hard for us to keep knot that ties between us but with Gods help, still we are together in spirit and in love. Yes, distance really matters, but its how you manage to keep the relationship and most of all, its how you keep the love alive.

In a relationship, sacrifice is within the package also. It doesn’t mean you cried a lot, or you are being tortured but a sacrifice for the sake of your family, for the sake of your baby’s future and your both future. For a married man and woman, they will surely understand what I mean.

But as much as possible, a family should live together to enhance, develop, nourish the love for each other.