I love marriage. I love it on a personal level and as a societal institution. I wholeheartedly believe that happy, strong marriages are the foundation for a happy, strong society. It is through marriage that most of us are meant to find love, fulfillment and personal growth.
I also know that a great marriage, the one you really really want to have, takes hard work and dedication. A great marriage doesn’t just happen because a nice girl falls in love with a nice boy and they decide to embark on the ultimate journey together. It’s a great start, but it’s only the beginning. Then life happens, with all of its exciting and boring and in-between ups and downs. There are new jobs. Jobs lost. Money problems. New baby. Sleepless nights. Sickness. Relocations. Irrational toddlers. In-laws (or outlaws). Hormonal teenagers. New wrinkles and love handles. And that’s just the normal stuff.
There are a million and one pressures which can either knock you together or pull you away. And that’s ok – every single marriage will experience them. As difficult as the struggles are, it is through them that true love, fulfillment and personal growth occurs.
And at some point, your marriage will experience a crisis and demand heroic acts of selflessness and sacrifice. I’ve seen it happen over and over again. How do we fortify our marriages to withstand these difficult periods? I believe that it’s through small acts of love and generosity, every day of every year that you are blessed to share together. And just like you start training for a marathon by jogging those first 50 meters (or so I’ve heard), so these little acts of love prepare you for the big moments of heroic love.
So I am offering a series on “marriage savers” — small, simple acts that you and your spouse can practice every day to strengthen your marriage. Marriage is for life, but that shouldn’t be a scary proposition. It should be a hopeful reminder of all the time that we have to get better and better at loving our spouse.
A happily ever after is absolutely possible.
