Marriage Tip Series: Planning Ahead

Marriage Tip #9: Planning ahead – Sharing your joint vision for your marriage

One of the secrets to a happy marriage is communication, where couples share everything, make every decision together and plan ahead for a life they want to grow into together – be inspired by the story of Meg Keene.

Some couples enter a marriage with their own ideas for where they see themselves as a separate entity somewhere down the line, and they don’t take their spouse into account at all.

Part of the build-up to ones wedding should also be what happens after the wedding, so many couples make the mistake of planning their lives together until the wedding, then think that the magic of love and romance and the white picket fence is going to just happen all by itself.

Couples need to put together a life plan, create a path they see themselves following as a unit, building their dream life together. The first year of marriage can be the hardest period of adjustment that couples face, especially if they entered their marriage with expectations rather than a life plan.

The first year should actually be the most exciting year of marriage, the eternal honeymoon, where you and your spouse start putting together everything that you have worked towards, building your path towards family, a home and a new life together.

Both husband and wife are guilty of having expectations of what they expect of their spouse after the wedding, and both are guilty of not voicing these expectations until they are faced with the reality that this is not necessarily how marriage works.

It is easy to fall into the trap where couples don’t address their hopes and dreams and places they would like their marriage to go, you get wrapped up in the excitement of the wedding, the honeymoon and then perhaps moving house, starting a new job and all the stresses and strains that go along with it.

But the good news is that it is never too late to put together a plan, a vision, a collection of your aspirations into a life path that the two of you will embark on as part of your journey together as man and wife. Read some additional thoughts on the secrets of a long happy marriage here from people who really know.

It’s all part of the exciting road that you are building together, learning things about each other, your love, your families and the ups and the downs. Sitting down with your loved one and sharing your vision for married life will bring you closer together, and you will be in the position of building a happy, healthy and strong marriage that will stand the test of time.

When last did you and your partner discuss what you want out of life as a couple? Have those things changed since you got married and are you still on the same see saw in your relationship? Make time to ponder your life together over a glass of wine or dinner.

-Jason Fox, managing editor

Stay tuned for the next post in our Marriage Tip Series: Rocky Roads