I was reading this article the other day, and it really hit me....I thought I would share it.
"EVERY relationship has a cycle. In the beginning, you fell in love with your spouse. You anticipated their call, wanted their touch, and liked their idiosyncrasies. Falling in love with your spouse wasn't hard. In fact, it was a completely spontaneous experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love - because it's happening TO YOU.
Falling in love is easy. It's a passive, spontaneous experience.
But after a few years of marriage, the euphoria of love fades. It's the natural cycle of EVERY relationship. slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts. The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship, but if you think about your marriage, you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage.
At this point, you and/or your spouse might start asking, "Did I marry the right person?" and as you and your spouse reflect on the euphoria of the love you once had, you may begin to desire that experience... This is when marriages break down. People blame their spouse for their unhappiness and look outside their marriage for fulfillment. Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes. Infidelity is the most obvious. But sometimes people turn to work, church, a hobby, a friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances. But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your marriage. It lies within it.
THE KEY TO SUCCEEDING IN MARRIAGE IS NOT JUST FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON; IT'S LEARNING TO LOVE THE PERSON YOU FOUND.
SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. It'll NEVER just happen to you. You have to "make" it day in and day out. That's why we have the expression "the labor of love." Because it takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it takes WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO to make YOUR marriage work."
Mort Fertel
Author & Founder of Marriage Fitness
I just found it refreshing to hear that every marriage takes work...and I am not crazy for feeling like mine isn't as easy as it once was!
P.S. I love you Nick! Thanks for working along side me, to make ours last forever....
Cuz... Forever is a long time! LOVE YOU!
Getting a good look inside the washer. He stood there for about 10 minutes...I even waited till it went in to the wash cycle before I took him down....I didn't want him to miss that!
