priority-01All marriages require work! Your marriage doesn’t reach perfection the moment you tie the knot, and your relationship won’t remain strong unless the two of you team up and make a commitment to work on it continuously. Life is busy, and it can be easy to let your marriage take the backseat when other people or deadlines seem pressing. In these situations, it is important to understand what it really means to make your relationship with your spouse a priority. Prioritizing your marriage doesn’t mean that you have to put all of your energy into your marriage at all times or that there aren’t other things in your life that sometimes need to come first. Prioritizing your marriage means that you do little things to show your spouse that you’re thinking about them and that you find ways to connect with each other on a daily basis. (Taken from Why You NEED to Make Your Spouse a Priority)

The first thing that comes to mind for me when I think about prioritizing time for my marriage relationship is regular date nights and occasional weekends away. Both of those are great, but I also know that it’s important to connect on a daily basis. The daily things don’t have to be extravagant or time consuming, but they are just as important as the bigger gestures. Those simple things will become a habit, and you may find that they become as important to your day as brushing your teeth or washing your hands, and that without them, your daily routine will be completely thrown off.

Talk to each other
Go beyond the “how was your day?” type of conversations. Make time to sit down every day and talk like you did when you were first dating each other. Get to know each other better, tell silly stories, and dream about your future together. This time is for you to connect as a couple and keep the spark alive. Don’t let this time replace your discussions about finances, goals, boundaries, and other more serious topics in marriage, as those are important too.

Enjoy a meal together
Couples (and families) who eat together on a regular basis have more positive relationships. Depending on your stage in life, it may not always be possible to share a meal, just the two of you. You can improvise by sharing dessert after the rest of the family has left the table or getting up early to enjoy breakfast before the rest of the household is awake.

Create a daily ritual
Rituals and traditions strengthen relationships and build connection. It’s just as important to have small, daily rituals in your marriage as it is to create traditions around holidays and special events in your relationship. Your daily rituals can be simple, but they should be meaningful to you and your partner. We enjoy late night walks, curling up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate, and laughing over YouTube videos together.

As you work to prioritize your marriage every day, remember that it’s important to be fully present. During the time that you have committed to focus on your relationship, set aside your phones, turn off the TV, and make sure the kids are in bed or otherwise occupied. It is possible to maintain a strong and romantic relationship with your spouse, no matter what stage of life you are currently experiencing together. Finding little ways to make your relationship a priority will create the kind of habits that help to build a strong, long-lasting marriage.

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