Have you seen the movie 50 First Dates? You should if you want to look at one of the greatest parts of any relationship. I’m talking about the first meeting – the time when chemistry is cooking and magic happens. In the movie, the lead character played by Adam Sandler meets a girl that knocks his socks off. The problem is that she suffers from a brain injury where she wakes up every morning forgetting what happened the day before. This leaves him with the task of winning her over again each and every day. It’s really a fantastic concept – having to experience that magic moment of falling in love every day. In life, this isn’t so easy, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try!

To do it, you need to know your partner inside and out. You need to know their likes and dislikes, the little signs that give away their mood, their schedule of things they’re doing and where they want to go in life. If you’re able to get to know someone intimately, you can make a relationship fresh every day. All it takes is the willingness to try!

“Someone worth your time will easily be able to see that you are putting the effort into the relationship.”

How you go about recreating magic on a daily basis is up to you. In 50 First Dates, our hero concentrates on the little things. Special flowers, a special song, a favorite meal – all work their magic and help him recreate the romance. If you haven’t seen the movie, you might be tempted to think this was like the Bill Murray comedy, Groundhog Day, in which Murray accomplishes such a huge list of fantastic deeds over the course of a 24-hour period that he wins redemption. 50 First Dates makes a more subtle point. It’s not the amount of romantic things you can do over and over. That’s a task that you could easily burn out at and an unrealistic way to look at relationships. Instead, it’s the small things that bump a relationship along in the right direction that make things magical. It’s putting the coffee on when you get up. It’s the hug at the end of a workday. It’s visiting the in-laws without a fight – and we all know how much you can’t stand them! Someone worth your time will easily be able to see that you are putting the effort into the relationship and love you more for it. That’s real magic. That’s a lifetime of romance.

An important part of this is keeping it fresh. Sure, warm coffee every day may loose some of its shine after many years, but not entirely. We all change as we grow and there will be new things that pop up to take its place. As long as you continue to put the effort in to find that spark, you won’t have to worry about what’s going to happen ahead. Sure, relationships come and go and sometimes they fail - even when you’re doing everything you can to keep it alive. But at least you’ll know that you did everything you could and that is the best thing you can possibly take with you in the end.

If you’re heading out on a first date, use what you’ve learned about the person you're seeing to help create a magical moment to kick things off with. Sandler had 50 first dates and he wanted to make each one right. You’re only going to get one with the person you’re going to spend your life with, so make it count!