30 for 30! A Tidbit of Advice for Each Year of Marriage

 

With June just around the corner, it’s time once again for wedding season to begin.  Whether you’re just starting your marriage journey or you’ve been on it for decades, couples can always use a piece of great advice – that’s why you’re reading this, right?  In honor of our 30^th wedding anniversary, we thought we’d pass along 30 for 30 – one tidbit of advice we’ve discovered for each year of marriage: 

1. Choose to love.  Every. Single. Time.
2. When you screw up, admit it, say you’re sorry, and ask for forgiveness.  Forgive often.  Sometimes, making love is an incredible source of healing.  Make-up sex can be awesome!
3. Write down your shared hopes and dreams.  Then work to make them a reality.
4. Sometimes the road gets bumpy.  You might even feel a little carsick.  Stay the course – it will get better.
5. Having kids will bring you unparalleled joys.  Having kids will bring you unparalleled frustration.  Have them anyway and savor the joy.
6. Newlywed sex is fun and exciting; making love after 30 years with a spouse who knows all the right buttons to push is even better. 😊 Talk about it!
7. R-E-S-P-E-C-T isn’t just a song title.  Make it a way of life.
8. I can’t change you.  You can’t change me.  But you inspire me to be better.
9. Share your interests.  Try something new together.  Make life richer. 
10. Surround yourselves with other couples who value marriage and whom you admire.
11. Laugh together often.  Don’t take yourselves too seriously.
12. Hold hands whenever you can.  Someday that hand will no longer be there to hold.
13. Speak kindly and listen well.
14. Say “I love you” multiple times a day – even if you don’t like each other much at that moment.
15. Don’t let the issue come between you.  No issue is more important than your relationship.
16. Marriage is like yoga – you have to breathe slowly and be flexible.
17. Forget 50/50.  Marriage is giving 100% – BOTH of you!
18. Thank your spouse.  Everyone wants to be appreciated for what they do.
19. Affirm your spouse.  Everyone deserves to be appreciated for who they are.
20. Make time for your other friends, but be BFFs.
21. Mom was right – never go to bed mad. (and try to go to bed together)
22. Live and love every day as if it were your last together. 
23. Keep your priorities straight.  Spouse is #1, kids are #2, everything else is #3.
24. Learn your spouse’s love language and speak it every day.
25. Tell your spouse how you’re feeling.  He/she can’t read your mind.
26. Be spontaneous once in a while – even if you have to put it on the calendar.
27. Always give a kiss and an “I love you” when one of you walks out the door.
28. Romance your spouse and kiss passionately every day.
29. When life gets tough, cling to each other.
30. Never stop having fun together. 😊

We challenge you to discuss or improve upon one tidbit of advice each day in the month of June. 

Here’s to the next 30!