Before you leave on a journey you first choose a destination and a reason for going. If you have never been there before then you do some research and decide the best route to get there and possibly the best time of year to travel. There are usually maps and travel books involved in the planning, tools to help make this adventure a successful one.
The day you were married began the first step of your journey together as a couple. It was the day you became a family. Did you have a destination in mind and reason for achieving it?
We may not always think of life as a destination with an objective in mind to arrive at. “Most people tiptoe their way through life, hoping to make it safely to death.”~Bob Proctor. What I am talking about is ‘purpose’. The reason you chose each other to spend the rest of your life with. The legacy you want to leave your children. I am not just talking about money, property, or charities, but the memories and values you want your children to receive and perpetuate.
When you are 85 years old and holding hands together what is it that you are happy you accomplished and completed? What is it that held you both together throughout your many years of marriage? ‘Purpose’ is the mortar that binds a couple together. It gives meaning to your relationship on those days when the clouds are marring your view.
Take action today and write out your purpose. It does not have to be something earth shaking and dramatic but it does need to be bigger than the two of you together. Just as together you create children, your purpose is a creation. Your children and family life are a part of that purpose, but children grow up and live their own lives. What do you want to create together that utilizes each other’s strengths and talents. Whatever you write out today is subject to change and additions.
Having a destination, something to achieve together, adds excitement and growth in your marriage. Your ‘purpose’ continues to evolve as you get better clarity on what it is that you want to leave as your legacy. In the words of Henry David Thoreau: ‘If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.’