Life can be so busy sometimes that days, weeks, or even months may pass by without feeling emotionally, spiritually and/or intellectually connected with your significant other. It can be easy to get lost in the “thick of things” without realizing it’s been quite a while since you spent quality time with your person. Life’s many demands; family activities, childcare, social events, school, clubs and other responsibilities seem to detract from your efforts to connect. If this sounds familiar, you aren’t alone.

While each of these activities can be meaningful and important, they can become your priority and can serve as a distraction from your relationship with your partner! If you aren’t careful, some of your activities could slowly overwhelm and strain your once vibrant relationship.

Spotting the Signs of Overwhelm in Marriage

Most people feel overwhelmed as a reaction to difficult circumstances or challenges. While some couples seem to go with the flow, many in reality get caught in the undertow. For couples, there are various reasons feeling overwhelmed in a relationship can be experienced, whether it’s in an early stage or an established partnership.

For instance, you may feel overwhelmed daily by household responsibilities, children, finances, and other obligations in your busy life. It’s not uncommon to be overwhelmed by a variety of domestic challenges as well as other obstacles outside of your home together. At times, when your relationship reaches rough patches, it can be really difficult to find answers. It can be easy to become bogged down by the complicated demands of your relationship and family life. You may even feel suffocated by the endless obligations that need to be fulfilled. No matter how skilled you are, it’s important to remember, no individual can handle that much single-handedly.

If you are in the midst of overwhelm, you may feel a sense of frustration, hurt and unrest over the conflict and problems gradually beginning to accumulate in your marriage. As you spend less quality time together, negativity can set in to damage the health of your relationship. You can become overwhelmed with feelings of disappointment and begin to think your marriage is a mistake. Along with this, your sense of trust, well-being and the connection can be affected.

Emotional distance can build up before you know it. Before you can realize it, it can feel like you’re both a great distance apart. Overwhelm may be to blame. Your inadvertent behaviors may have built walls that separate you and your spouse, making it difficult to connect with each other. It doesn’t have to stay that way. You can put your marriage back on track by giving it the attention it deserves.

Cultivating and Tending Your Marriage

Your marriage may have started out with enthusiasm and energy, but the changing times and unexpected demands of married life may have shifted your priorities, bringing with them overwhelming feelings. This can affect marital satisfaction over time, and without intentional harm, your once happy marriage can become a draining, disconnected and painful relationship.

Addressing your concerns and finding resolution can help to improve your relationship. Overwhelm can steal your desire to talk about the difficult things and make it hard to feel connected. Feeling overwhelmed may be inevitable, though it doesn’t have to impact the quality of your relationship.

The principles that create a garden can be applied to the cultivation of a healthy relationship. As much as you may want nature to take its course and apply little effort in growing the seeds, a marriage requires commitment, compromise, and communication for it to become truly healthy, stable and productive. If you want your marriage to thrive, give it the attention it deserves.

Being Happy Again in the Midst of Overwhelm

Married life can sometimes be hectic and busy, which can occasionally cause couples to disengage and disagree. While it is a completely expected part of marriage, busyness can cause your connection to fade over time. While there is no relationship instruction manual, counseling can help.

People tend to give more attention to other matters rather than putting effort toward something as important as their marriage. A therapist can provide an unbiased perspective and help you to address what may be causing difficulty in your relationship. Like a garden that needs tending and care, your marriage deserves attention to flourish. This can be difficult to do when you are feeling overwhelmed.

Allowing neglected issues to resolve themselves on their own usually results in more distance and conflict. In recognizing the many ways a therapist can help resolve marital conflict you and your spouse can begin to move toward the partnership you want. In the process, you can benefit from creating more harmony in your home and strengthening your relationship along the way. Call Carolina Counseling Services – Sanford, NC to find the therapist that is right for you.