How much marriage advice is out there on the great and powerful Internet?
A lot! So, instead of adding to the steadily-accumulating monstrosity, we decided to instead create a best of the best list…so you can skip all the rest!
1. Be committed to each other. This one is pretty simple, really: be committed to your relationship together. Be committed to yourselves and to the bond you’ve created together. Make your commitment a priority.
2. Think openly and freely. Nurture your creative, thinking mind to get the most out of your marriage.
3. Maintenance is important. Make sure your marriage gets regular care, or it will wind up being quite costly.
4. Be supportive of each other. Enjoying the good times in a relationship is easy, but when the hard times roll around, your marriage will truly be tested. Be there for your spouse and don’t forget to ask for their help when you need it.
5. It really is the little things. The little things that you do everyday, rather than the grand gestures, are what keep your marriage strong.
6. Give them a free pass. There are going to be things about your partner that they’ll never give up, and will annoy you. Make the commitment to stop caring about those things.
7. Invest your time. Nothing says devotion to your marriage like time spent on it. We allocate our time to the relationships that mean the most, so naturally your marriage should be first.
8. Actions speak louder than words. What you do is more important than what you say, so spend your time taking action to show your love for your spouse.
9. Be generous and kind. A kind action towards your spouse made every day, like making them coffee or putting a love note in their lunch, shows your generosity of spirit.
10. Celebrate the best of each other. Make each day a celebration of the best of who you are and who your spouse is.
11. Live in the now. Don’t let life’s distractions keep you from living in the moment. Stay focused on what is truly important.
12. Embrace learning. Commit to staying open, staying teachable and learning. Learning is the foundation for growth, and growth is essential to a happy marriage.
13. Learn from your past. Use the lessons from your past to help you shape your future.
14. Make self-care a priority. You can’t take care of anyone else or your relationship with them if you don’t make self-care a priority. You have to take care of yourself first.
15. Savor the good. Relationships mature as they age and your marriage is your most important relationship. Enjoy observing its evolution as much as you take part in it.
16. Express your love every day. Be open and heartfelt about expressing your love for your spouse every day.
17. Make your marriage a significant priority. Your marriage isn’t something separate from yourself, it grows out of yourself. Prioritize it.
18. Change yourself. Trying to change your partner won’t work and will probably backfire. Be prepared & open to making changes to yourself for the sake of your marriage.
19. Forgive the imperfections. Forgiveness is a foundational asset to a happy marriage.
20. Find your happy. If you do something that betters you, that makes you happy, your marriage will benefit from it as well.
21. Find the good. Look, you can find plenty of things about each other that drive you nuts, but that isn’t why you got married. Focus on finding the good and looking at the stuff that drives you crazy only as pesky little distractions and your marriage will grow in strength, love and commitment.
