All couples fight, even happy couples. There’s no getting around this fact. Many people have a dream that one day they will meet the perfect person who just gets them and the two of them will never have a conflict.

This dream is a fantasy that’s undermining your ability to maintain harmony in your intimate relationships and could possibly be keeping you from identifying an ideal match to share your life with.

When you’re ready to accept that even happy couples argue, then you can become curious about happy couples and what they know about arguing and making up that you haven’t figured out yet.

Unhappy as well as happy couples:

• Sometimes raise their voices at each other.
• Sometimes say things they regret.
• Sometimes freeze each other out when they are upset.
• Sometimes disappoint each other.

So what’s the difference between happy couples and unhappy couples?

Here’s the deal: It’s not one thing. The difference is in how happy couples perceive each other and the actions they take when conflicts arise.

7 Secrets Happy Couples Know About Arguing & Making Up

1. Happy Couples Take Responsibility Instead Of Assign Blame

Relationship is like a funhouse mirror. At the carnival, you look in a funhouse mirror and see a distorted image of yourself. You might have a long head, a tiny torso with big giant feet, or some other odd image staring back at you. And sometimes what you see is so weird that you don’t even recognize yourself.

This is what happens when you’re in an intimate relationship. You aren’t looking at your partner. You’re looking at a distorted image of yourself. And all your flaws and frustrations with yourself get projected onto your partner.

Happy couples realize this and take responsibility for their projections.

It’s much easier to blame your partner when things go wrong and to judge your partner’s strategies for dealing with stress. Their behavior makes you uncomfortable and you’d probably handle things differently. If only he/she would just do things your way the two of you would get along so much better.

Ultimately blaming and judging your partner leads to a power struggle between the two of you. Just let go of the rope.

Happy couples take ownership of their discomfort whatever it may be and allow their partner the freedom to make his/her own choices. It’s this acceptance that creates harmony between you and a bond that lasts over time.

2. Happy Couples Don’t Require Agreement

One of the biggest causes of a power struggle in a relationship is the need for your partner to agree with you. The need for him/her to agree with your desires, your opinions, and your strategies will cause a lot of conflict between the two of you.

Instead, happy couples understand that intimacy doesn’t require agreement.

Agreement won’t bring you closer together, but authenticity will. When you share your truth and take responsibility for your emotions, you open the door for your partner to share his/her truth. Authenticity is a high vibration, and its expression creates intimacy between the two of you.

You both feel seen, heard and understood. You may both still disagree, but it suddenly isn’t that important because you feel connected. That’s the magic of intimacy.

Happy couples know the importance of being authentic. They don’t have the unrealistic expectation that they’ll always agree with one another. Being authentic and speaking up to share and express feelings allows a deeper bond to grow over time.

3. Happy Couples Fight For The Relationship, Not Each Other

The only way out of a power struggle in a relationship is to fight for the relationship instead of each other. When you choose to fight for the relationship, you put aside your ego desires to be “right” and commit to finding understanding for each other’s experience.

Letting go of the need to be right isn’t about giving up what you value or what’s important to you. It’s about letting go of the rope and listening to your partner so you can understand his/her point of view. You can have empathy and compassion for your partner’s upset and also share your experience.

If you believe you have to give up something you value just to get along, it won’t feel like love. It’ll feel like you’re constantly sacrificing your needs to have peace.

Happy couples don’t sacrifice their needs thinking it’ll make things better. Instead, they fight for the relationship and understand the importance of reconnecting and repairing after a fight.

4. Happy Couples Don’t Accept An Apology Until They Are Ready To Let It Go

Rushing to forgiveness can cause a lot of problems if you aren’t ready to let the argument go. It’s great that your partner is willing to take responsibility and apologize for his/her behavior.

This does not mean that you’re ready to let it go. If you find yourself still arguing in your mind about what was said or done, you aren’t ready to accept the apology that has been offered.

When you accept an apology, it means that you’re ready to let the argument go. You’re committing to not bringing it up again. Don’t accept an apology because you want the fight to end. Accept an apology from your partner because you’re ready to let it go and reconnect with your partner.

Happy couples make the effort to clean things up entirely rather than rushing to forgiveness and avoiding the uncomfortable conversation.

5. Happy Couples Don’t Forget To Repair

Mistakes happen. Words get said that you wish you could take back. Sometimes you take actions that you’re not proud of. This is all part of the human experience.

Happy couples are different because they never forget to repair when arguments occur. They take responsibility for their behavior, apologize, and they offer amends when necessary.

When an argument hasn’t been repaired, it’ll fester, and flare up without warning. You may find yourself in a fight cycle that feels like it’ll never end. This is what people mean when they break up because of irreconcilable differences.

They never took the time to repair the fight so the space between them feels insurmountable. How could you let go of those hurts if you never did the work of healing them?

Happy couples know that the most important step in any argument is to repair and reconnect with each other.

6. Happy Couples Have Clear Ground Rules About How To Fight

Creating ground rules about arguments gives you a feeling of safety when there’s conflict. You know that an argument won’t end the relationship.

Happy couples create clear rules and boundaries so that they fight fair. These rules may bend sometimes, and ultimately, they do the work of taking responsibility and repairing and making best efforts moving forward.

Happy couples have clear communication and a system to take a break if things get too heated, and for letting their partner know when they’re ready to reconnect and repair.

Creating ground rules for disagreements can be an uncomfortable conversation, however, they give you a structure so that you and your partner can make it through the challenging times that’ll inevitably come your way.

No one would bring a baby home from the hospital without a plan of what to do with all the dirty diapers. Make sure you plan the same way for the crap that will show up between you and your partner.

Happy couples know the importance of having clear ground rules that allow for mutual respect even when there is conflict. The secret sauce is having clear communication and a plan rather than the fantasy that fights will never occur.

7. Happy Couples Clean Up As They Go

Holding onto little frustrations can lead to them building up and eventually exploding into a much bigger argument. It’s like a volcano that has built up so much pressure that it spews lava and ash all over the place.

When this happens, you feel terrible, and you decide that you don’t like conflict. So you keep things to yourself until they blow up again.

Happy couples know how to release the pressure by cleaning up the little frustrations as they go. This doesn’t mean that you nitpick everything with your partner. It does mean that you regularly share how you feel and make requests for adjustments.

We call this process “keeping your sink clean.” When you tell your partner that you have a dirty fork you need to clean up, your partner can relax knowing that you aren’t going to mention half a dozen things you’re upset about.

This open line of communication allows you to reconnect again and again with your partner so that you don’t find that one day you’ve grown apart. It also means that you’re not going outside the relationship to complain or seek comfort elsewhere.

Clean your sink as you go and you’ll have a happy and healthy relationship.

Happy couples may fight and behave like any other couple, but it’s what they do after the fight that makes all the difference in creating long-lasting, soul-satisfying love.

Are you struggling to find common ground with your partner? If you are looking for more tools to navigate your disagreements, download our free guide: The 5 Stages Of Relationship. You’ll get a map to move past any power struggles to create a lasting partnership filled with co-creation and bliss.