Have you ever tried clapping with one hand? Yeah, it doesn’t work. And just like it takes two hands to clap, it takes two people to make a marriage work. Both a husband and wife have to individually invest in the marriage to make it successful; it’s not a one-sided thing.
As a spouse, you’ve made a commitment to another person, to love them through sickness and health, through the good and the bad and everything in between – and to do so takes effort and time. Just because you’re not married, doesn’t mean you quit putting in work. Just like when you and your spouse started dating, you need to continue that courtship and really show an interest in your significant other. Your relationship should never be taken for granted just because you have a ring on your finger.
It’s easy to put your marriage on the back burner now that you’ve said your “I Dos” and find excuses because of how busy or tired you are. But like all things in life, you need to put in work to make something succeed. And having a successful marriage is well worth any hard work.
Just like you continue to put in an effort at a job you’ve had for many years, the same needs to be applied to your marriage to make it stronger and stand the test of time. Because when either of you stop putting in work, that’s when your relationship will start to unravel. Even if you’re putting in effort, doesn’t mean that your marriage will succeed unless both of you do it. If either one of you are facing any issues in your marriage, you need to communicate with each other to find the root of the problem, fix it and move on.
And remember that no relationship is perfect. There will be ups and downs just like the roller coaster of life, but the downs won’t last long if both you and your spouse are working toward more ups. Know that everyone makes mistakes and just because your partner makes them once in a while doesn’t mean they don’t care about the relationship. They might have just forgotten what’s important and will soon realize the error in their ways. Once that happens, it’s important to move on because lingering on things won’t help make anything better.
As you continue to put in work for your marriage, love your spouse for who they were, who they are and who they will become because growing together and appreciating who they are shaping to be will only make your relationship stronger and better.
@WORK
But putting in work isn’t something you only do in a marriage; a similar investment is required in other key relationships in life like employee and manager, mentee and mentor or any other forms of business relationships so think of it as a life lesson and not just as a marriage one. Understanding this will help you go far in both your marriage and in life.
