How to Put Passion Back in Your Relationship

Occasionally relationships seem to lose the spark that they were built on, the fire snuffed out by the stresses of work, kids and family life. You and your partner may have gone from being lovers and best friends to business partners and professional kid wranglers. Bring your relationship back to its roots by rekindling the flame it began with.

Speak to your partner about the idea of rekindling the passionate side of your relationship. Be sure to address the issue as a joint project you will both work on, rather than approaching the subject like an accusation. Your partner may be experiencing troubles with increased stress, health issues or medication changes that affect his or her mood and sex drive and you do not want to appear to be accusing them for an issue he is already struggling with.
Make time for each other. The original passion relationships possess sometimes loses out along the way to kids, work and other life concerns. Examine your schedules for moments when you can spend time together. Maybe you can come home from the office early a couple of times a week or ask your parents to watch the kids for a weekend. Schedule time for each other into your calendars each week and soon enough it will become a habit.

Shake up your routine. Often, relationships lose passion over time as each partner settles into their relationship roles as mother, father, housewife, breadwinner, etc. Try buying a book of recipes for foods neither of you has tried and try a different one each week or start playing board games every night instead of watching television. Trying new things and spending time together will bring you and your significant other closer and remind you of the reasons you fell in love in the first place.

Plan a getaway together. Sometimes the clamor of everyday life is too much to make time for each other during the week and you both need a break in order to reconnect. Planning a trip together will remind you both of what the other loves to do and what attracted you to them in the first place. Your vacation does not need to be extravagant, you can leave the kids at your parents' house and run away together to your own back yard with similar results, as long as you both unplug from work and make the time about each other.

Make sure both partners are interested in rediscovering your passion for each other. If your partner insists your relationship is fine the way it is and you are still unsatisfied, deeper issues may need to be addressed.