Kinzi's Marriage Tag

This is a great tag by Kinzi ! Thank you Kinzi for giving me and the other married bloggers the chance to shed some light on this important part of life that almost everyone will go through sooner or later. I already posted this back in September marking my 30th wedding anniversary,here it is again:

After thirty years of being happily married to the same loving man, and surviving together raising three children, I think I am entitle to my own perspective about summing up the main aspects of a good marriage. I know for sure that it takes some work to achieve and keep a happy marriage, some marriages take more hard work than others but I can sum up the basics to have in a good marriage in these points:
Respect, Love, Good Communication, Trust and lots of Patience.
I am sure there are more aspects for a happy marriage but I think these are the most important and the ones that worked for me and my spouse.
RESPECT, it comes before love because if you respect someone you treat them well, with compassion and care especially if it was your life partner. Respect extends to your spouse's family. You should have respect to his/her parents, siblings and the whole family. Treat each person right and in return you will be treated the same. You should always keep in mind that when you marry a person you marry the whole family too! So it is better to make the best out of life and accept them the way they are.
LOVE is essential, but you have to love the other person for all their faults and love unconditionally. Show your love to your spouse and talk about how you feel exactly. Be true in expressing your feelings and do not be afraid or shy to show or say how you feel. A simple "I love you" makes life much easier and happier.
COMMUNICATION is one of the assets to have in any marriage. Communication has to be continuous and open with your spouse. Talk about everything in your lives, your work, events in your day, your children, what bothers you and what makes you happy too. Even your spouse cannot read your mind that is why you have to speak out!
TRUST comes naturally to a good marriage and it should be mutual. Knowing your spouse inside out through your open communication brings more trust to the marriage. It brings peace of mind to you and your loved ones.
PATIENCE is a skill that is a must to have and learn in life. It is a quality that is very essential to have in a marriage. Life has many surprises that might not be as good as you like or as you expect, dealing with situations and others involved in wise manners is a must. It helps to count to three, or sometimes to ten, before you react to situations or other people in your life.
Some of the strategies to apply in ANY marriage are: walk away when you are angry and talk when you are cooled off. Do not sweat the small stuff, life is too short to waste in stressing over little things that could be brushed away and concentrate on more important stuff such as your own happiness. Have a positive attitude towards life in general and towards your marriage especially. Express your feelings towards each other on a daily basis, with any nice words or gestures, a small kiss or a hug makes a huge difference in the others persons outlook towards their spouse. Be generous with compliments and show affection. These small actions demonstrate the love inside you, and they come in naturally if you are truly in love with your spouse, they have a positive effect on the marriage too. One last but not least important thing, always look and smell nice to your spouse, this works wonders and works like a charm on the other person...It adds a lot of spice to your love life.