In our last post, we considered, "What is intimacy?" Now it's time for why this matters, anyway. Why should you care? How does intimacy influence your relationship? Intimacy is an enormous factor in a relationship and can't possibly be tackled in one article, but we're going to start chipping away anyways.
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Your return on relationship investment
There are so many reasons to invest time (and money) into your relationship. After all, your investment can bring great returns, though that's not to say we want you to think of your relationship in stuffy financial rhetoric. Some cliches earn their status of cliches because they are so obviously true and we believe "you get what you give" and any iteration of that essential truth apply snuggly to intimacy.
Good sex paired with a healthy emotional relationship with your significant other can lead to a more happy life together and a more complete understanding of yourself.
Happy marriage? Have a higher standard of living
One extensive study showed a higher standard of living and a sense of purpose followed satisfied marriages. Marriage, it seemed, stopped risky behavior (like over consumption of alcohol/drugs) and encouraged healthy behavior. Is that so surprising?
Risky behavior like chemical abuse is symptomatic of an internal misbalance. When you rely and love another in a relationship and those feelings are reciprocated, problems with balance have a tendency to smooth out with time. You invest more energy thinking and acting with regard to what you'd think your partner would appreciate. Sometimes all a problem needs is a good clean up and down look from a step back. Intimacy with a partner can provide this new level of perspective.
Happy marriage? Be more healthy
Happily married people have lower blood pressure than their single counterparts. What's more, unhappily married people are likely to have higher blood pressure than both singles and happy couples.
Also, new evidence continues to appear linking health and wealth with strong, lasting relationships. Through many nuances, generally--good marriages have been seen as very beneficial to health. Also, healthy marriages have also been highly linked to financial success.
So maybe, the real question is: can you afford not to care about your intimacy and sexual satisfaction? Don't wait until your relationship is on the rocks to improve it.
