What are your expectations for your marriage? Most girls grow up dreaming about their wedding day. They dream about wearing a beautiful gown and walking down an aisle flanked by loving friends and family. Or they dream about an amazing ceremony performed on a beach. Either way, it’s a fairy tale. Even men tend to have fairy tale ideas about their wedding, and, their marriage as well. One reason why so many newlyweds have a hard time in those first two years of marriage is because they go into it expecting to live a fairy tale.
Unfortunately, all of married life can’t be a fairy tale. A fairy godmother isn’t likely to come sweeping into your home brandishing a beautiful gown for you to wear to the ball, nor is your new husband likely to cover you in chocolate and roses every day. While you should expect your new marriage to be a wonderful time in your life, you might want to tone down your fairy tale expectations to avoid putting too much pressure on yourself and spouse.
If you want your marriage to last, the most important thing is to recognize that married life isn’t a fairy tale, it requires work. Yes, there are a lot of fun and amazing things that you can do together, and there are certain days where it will feel magical, but eventually, you’ll find yourself dealing with the mundane or the frustrating. You’ll have to deal with in-laws or boring friends or demanding work schedules. How can you keep your relationship together with real life intruding?
Make your relationship your top priority. No you’re not Cinderella and that’s not a prince that you’re married to (unless you’re Kate Middleton), but he is your partner, and together the two of you are a team. Like your favorite sports team, you have to learn how to work together in order to keep your marriage together.
A big part of making sure that your life together is a happy one, and is the fairy tale that you hope it to be, is in enjoying the simple things that your share. Enjoy the time that you have together, and the silly and fun things that you do as a couple. This makes your married life much better than a fairy tale, it makes it a happy, healthy relationship! Now that’s something they should write stories about!
How are you keeping your marriage happy and healthy? Have you both been working to make your expectations for your marriage a reality?