8 Things Happy Couples (Almost) Never Do

Happy couples who have been together awhile can teach us all a thing or two about how to sustain and nurture a strong, loving connection for years to come.

We asked couples therapists — who have seen the good, the bad and the ugly — what things people in happy partnerships rarely ever do.

We use the word “rarely” because even people in the healthiest relationships occasionally slip up — they’re human, after all. But most of the time they treat each other in thoughtful, understanding and respectful ways.

Here’s what we can learn from them:

1. They don’t shy away from tough conversations.

No matter how compatible they are, no two partners are going to see eye-to-eye on every issue; disagreements will inevitably arise. Rather than sweeping their feelings under the rug to avoid a hard conversation, happy couples are capable of talking openly and honestly about the touchy stuff, like money, in-laws, parenting, sex and everything in between.

“Leaving important issues unexplored damages trust and leads to resentment and disengagement,” Winifred M. Reilly, a marriage and family therapist in Berkeley, California, and author of “It Takes One to Tango,” told HuffPost. “While tackling these issues takes patience and curiosity, along with courage, happy couples recognize that the reward for being honest and open is a greater sense of connection and a more satisfying life together.”

2. They don’t keep score.

Miami marriage and family therapist Amanda Baquero said happy partners don’t act like “emotional accountants,” carefully tallying each other’s good and bad deeds.

“Scorekeeping sounds like: ‘I always do this for them, but they never do it for me in return,’ or ‘Last week I said this four times, but they only said it