Anyone can be present in the easy seasons. It is in difficulty — illness, loss, uncertainty — that a relationship reveals its true character. The good news: resilience is a skill, and it can be learned.
Turn toward, not away
Under stress, the instinct is to withdraw. Choose the opposite. A small gesture of closeness in a hard moment is worth a hundred grand ones in good times.
Protect the partnership
Remember you are on the same team, side by side. Name it out loud: it is us against this, not me against you.
Make room for repair
You will get it wrong sometimes. What matters is how quickly and how sincerely you return to each other.
Hard times rarely break strong couples. More often, they reveal — and deepen — the bond that was already there.