My husband and I recently attended The Philadelphia Flower Show in an effort to coax a little bit of spring into our lives never expecting to find love there. To see the beautiful flowers and amazing floral designs and displays was a sight to behold and food for the spring starved soul. I thought the best part of the flower show would be the promise of spring, but to my surprise, it was actually the fact that I got to spend some quality time and share some love with my husband during the work week. As we chose to leave all of our cares and worries behind us for the day, we created some new loving memories that we will continue to cherish.

As a marriage counselor, I often tell my couples that a great way to build intimacy, enhance your marriage and show love to one another is to spend some quality time together. As I followed my own advice, after 39 years of marriage, I was pleasantly surprised and found that it is indeed true! Quality time creates closeness, connection and builds a stronger marital bond. You may wonder exactly what quality time looks like. Quality time can be described as spending time that is focused on the other person, without distraction, communicating interest to your partner by listening to what the other person is saying and responding to your partner in a kind, thoughtful and generous manner. In addition, participating in shared activities together that make you both feel the most loved by each other counts as quality time.

Many couples worry that they aren’t “in love” with their partner anymore and they have lost the spark. They mistakenly believe that this may be the end of their relationship. The newness of “in love” feelings are temporary and will last at the most two years if you are lucky. Being “in love” is more like an obsessive type of love whereas enduring love is a daily choice and more long lasting. If you have been together as a couple for a significant amount of time, you probably have lost those “in love” gushy feelings, but the good news is that after the love obsession is gone, real love replaces it and grows into mature love.

Couples can often forget how to love each other and often need to be reminded about the love that brought them together in the first place. The quickest, easiest, most effective way to cultivate love is by spending quality time together doing fun things and should be at the top of every couple’s list to keep the love light burning.

How about you? Is your love light burnt down to a flicker? Do you need to incorporate some quality time in your marriage to show how much you love your partner? Spending some quality time with your partner just may be the cure for love you have been looking for. I found my love at the Flower Show! I wonder where you will find yours?