For many people, a trial separation means the end of your marriage. For others, it means a new beginning for their marriage. Marriage separation gives couples a chance to evaluate what they want out of their life and how their spouse fits in. If you and your spouse are temporarily separated to save your marriage, you will have to learn how to date your spouse. Dating your spouse under a neutral social setting can great impact whether or not you guys can save your marriage. However, there are some important things to keep in mind when you are your spouse are dating each other again.
The biggest difference between dating your spouse this time around to when you guys first started dating is how you guys define dating. It is important to define the dating rules in your trial marriage separation to avoid any further damages in your marriage. Here are 5 important factors to dating your spouse again.
1. When you are your spouse go on a date, make sure you guys clarify what kind of date you guys are going on. Picture the disappointment from your spouse when he or she expects a romantic night when instead you want to go over family's finances. Make sure you make it clear to your wife or husband on what the purpose of your date is.
2. Knowing exactly what each other's expectations when it comes to dating plays a crucial factor in saving your marriage. Decide whether you guys plan on dating other people and make sure you guys are honest about it. Imagine further damage to your marriage when your spouse accidentally runs into you and your other date. Not only will that hurt your spouse, but can in fact end your marriage then and there.
3. When you and your spouse are on a date, don't pretend you guys don't have any marriage problems. Make sure you guys are very open about the issues in your marriage. Instead of blaming who did what, figure out what went wrong in your marriage and what you guys could have done differently. This will help you guys get a better perspective of what went wrong and can help you guys find strategies to fixing your marriage.
4. Before you and your spouse starts dating, it's important that you guys address the issue of physical intimacy and the boundaries. If you really believe that your marriage can't be saved and you feel divorce is imminent, than having sex with your spouse will only cause deep and emotional pain. The last thing you want to do is to further hurt your spouse when you know divorce is inevitable.
5. The most important thing when it comes to dating your spouse during a trial separation is that you keep the lines of communication open at all times. Openly expressing your thoughts, emotions and agenda when it comes to dating your spouse will help you guys get back on track to healing your marriage.
Dating is a way for you and your spouse to reconnect with each other on neutral grounds. Dating will help realign and balance your marriage when done right. It's very common for most couples to allow distractions and stress pull your attention from your spouse, by dating, you will refocus on making your marriage a top priority.
Got more marriage related issues? If so, you should definitely check out Spouse Separation, and Marriage Sherpa.