Remember, recently I was asked to prepare a list of what I would tell young married couples still in the first five years of their marriage – that I wish I had been told back then.
I started this list in Part 1 of this blogpost series and here are the next two on my Top Ten list.
3. DREAM TOGETHER:
Develop some shared goals – short term and long term to work on together.
Remember when you are making this list to expand on it so the items are more than just concrete goals of buying a house or setting a date for starting a family… Develop a larger dream together as a common dream you can share and work toward with each other… like some day we want to travel the world or start our own business. Dream big! What’s your shared dream?
4. CELEBRATE and DATE:
Besides the big dreams, take time out to celebrate the small stuff.
Enjoy your life together each day as a couple… instead of constantly looking forward to the next big deal in life (buying a house or having a baby), celebrate the day to day successes and joy in your relationship, even if that joy seems to be slipping from view.
Plan nights out – just the two of you – regularly… at least once a month. Paying attention and highlighting the little things that are going right in your relationship and life together will help divert your attention from always focusing on the negative. There will be negative stuff, it’s part of life. But focusing on it can just breed more bad thoughts and bitter feelings. Be positive (facing reality too which is necessary, yes); but find the positive and choose to think of that glass as half full.
I will be sharing more of my top ten list next week. Take a moment and leave a comment of your thoughts on dreaming and celebrating those little moments.
Please check out the first post in this series:
Find yourself… keeping it real.
