How to survive wedded bliss.

 

The year I got married, I read an article written by a woman who’d been married for 50 years. When asked how her marriage lasted so long, she had one piece of advice: accept TEN things that drive you crazy about your partner. If your husband likes to watch superhero movies and you don’t, accept that and find something else to do while he’s viewing Superman for the 5,627th time. If your guy hates to eat out at restaurants, accept that and find something the two of you can enjoy, because here’s the thing: he’s not exactly like you. And you’re not exactly like him. Accepting those differences makes living together a whole lot easier.

The first item I put on the “Ten Things That Drive Me Crazy About My Husband” list was kind of stupid. I couldn’t stand the way he didn’t empty the trash cans in the house on trash day. I talked to him about it and we tried to come up with a better way to handle our chores, but emptying the trash cans wasn’t super important to my husband. Once I put that quirk on my list of things to accept, I felt better. I could let go of my frustration, because I acknowledged that we just didn’t manage trash day the same way.

I still had nine more spaces on my list, but I was a little worried. I’d tacked the “trash day” problem onto my list during our third month of marriage. At this rate, I’d fill up those ten things that drive me crazy list in about two years. What then?

Well, I did add things to that mental list, but I could only remember the first one. That’s probably what that old married lady intended. Once you accept that first small difference, it’s easier to let go of other small differences.

This advice must work. I’ve been married to my husband for 30 years…and I’ve still got nine empty slots on my mental list of things that drive me crazy about him!

 

Love,