Yesterday I looked at five essentials for a happy lasting marriage. Today I am continuing with another five essentials.
6. Forgiveness
Married life isn’t always go to go along smoothly. We all do things wrong and things that hurt or upset our spouse. It’s how we choose to deal with those things that is important. We can hold grudges and sulk but it never achieves anything, or we can choose to forgive them and move on. Forgiveness doesn’t just happen. It is a choice, a decision of willingness to forgive. The old adage about not going to bed angry is one I certainly think is worth while adhering to. If that means staying up till you work through it, the problem that’s what you do.
7. Friendship
An important aspect of marriage is that you are friends and enjoy being together. It doesn’t matter what you are doing so long as you are together. Yesterday Mick and I took a break in the middle of shopping and went and got a take out lunch and sat near the river watching the pelicans. It was a pleasant interlude in a busy day.
We relaxed and laughed and talked and enjoyed being together.
8. A sense of humor
Any marriage will work better when a sense of humor is added to the mix. It can sometimes be the ingredient that will make you see how silly an argument is. And it’s always nice to share secret little jokes as a couple.
9. Don’t nag
This applies as much to guys as it does to women. It’s not just confined to one gender. As Mary Ann pointed out it often masquerades under another name when guys do it, but it’s still nagging. And the thing is it never achieves anything except makes the spouse resentful and annoyed. It can have the opposite effect of making your spouse all the more determined not to do whatever it is you want done.
10. Acceptance
This brings us to the last but by no means least important essential – acceptance. Accept each other’s little quirks and foibles (we all have them) and don’t try to change them into something other than the person they are.
Are there any essentials you’d like to add that I’ve forgotten?
Related blogs
Disagreements Aren’t Always Bad for Your Marriage