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I sometimes think about how other people have less happy relationships than mine, and that makes me sad for them
Got a partner who pays half the bills, does half the laundry, cooks half the food, washes half the dishes. Even without sex, it's an absolute win.
I know, right!?
I'm pretty introverted, and one thing I found surprising is that time with my wife counts as "alone time" for that =)
you don't need to get married for that
Exactly, I had a cat for years before getting married
Or just live together without getting your official government approval certificate
Probably because bc let's you marry who you want instead of an obligation due to being too aroused one time.
More recent generations have much better emotional intelligence than previous ones. We're consistently getting better at things like communication and being aware of our own feelings, which makes marriage a lot better.
I always heard growing up that once you stop fighting, the marriage is in trouble. Which, frankly, is bullshit. The marriage is in trouble when you stop communicating, but that doesn't mean you have to constantly fight. It's possible to work out differences before they build up and explode.
It's still difficult at times, but yeah, marriage is rad if you both commit to being great communicators.
Could have done this much cheaper with a dog.
You can't fuck a dog though
You clearly aren't a white girl
Not with that attitude
I remember hearing all the boomer "take my wife...please! Ole ball and chain" jokes growing up. I fuckin love my husband. I love being married. I feel bad for people who think resenting their spouse is the default. I get to touch butt pretty much whenever I want.
I think the key is remembering to be grateful that you can have sex whenever you want
I know a few people for whom that's almost definitely the case
You can? What kind of marriage is that? π
Edit: the only thing the boomer comments got right about my marriage is the lack of sex, other than that we are super happy and have absolute zero regrets
I have noticed that my desire for sex in general went way down after my fiancΓ©e and I got serious. My understanding is that what messes other couples up is that you kinda need to schedule romance after a while; at least, it seems like that based on how often my grandma took me on hours-long trips to Barnes and Noble as a kid until she got the all-clear text from my mom that it was safe for me to come home.
Whole new angle on the grandmother hypothesis
Tbh as a kid I only thought it was a bit odd that mom and dad seemed much more cuddly after my B&N trips, but didn't give it any more thought than that until I was an adult
My partner and I both say that weβre better than being alone. And we both LOVE being alone.
I love being alone together with my wife
My partner will sit and read quietly in the room while I'm playing games and not interact with each other and it's the fucking best.
I also love marriage. I could chuck my wife off a bridge some days, and at times she admits she deserves it, but 95% of the time we are having a wonderful time. 9 years married, 14 years together. Apparently a lot of people marry women they don't get along with and then wonder why their marriage sucks. Or have kids to "bring them closer together".
Oh those poor kids. That worries me a heck of a lot more than someone who never even googled "how to relationship"
I cracked the code. I married my best friend. Now I get to hang out with my best friend every single day!
I also had a rule that I would live with them for at least 1 year before committing to a proposal. I had to know in advance that I could live with this person, at their best AND worst every single day, before I would even consider marriage.
So many marriages fell apart during the pandemic because so many people had to be trapped in their house with their spouse all day and quickly learned that they didn't really like spending time with them. But not me and my spouse; it was the normal routine for us, but more of it!
Personally, we like to spend time near each other, but not necessarily doing the exact same things together. It's important to have different hobbies that the other can respect, but not necessarily be all-in with you. Because doing the same things with a partner every day can get exhausting.
For instance, my wife spends 90% of her awake time playing mobile games on her phone. I love to spend time indulging in hobbies online. We'll both sit in the same room together all day, but be engaged in our own things.
When we want to do something together, we'll both agree to switch to that. For example, we both love watching movies and binging TV shows. So when one of us moves to the couch, that's usually a sign that they're up for watching something and we'll both decide on what to watch together.
It also helps to not be solely interested in someone for their looks. Looks fade, and unless you find a personality under those looks that meshes well with yours, you'll eventually find yourself frustrated and trapped with someone you don't get along with. Looks are a bonus; no relationship should be focused solely on that, unless you mutually agree in advance that the relationship is meant to be a fling based on looks and passionate desire. Which can be beautiful in its own way, but may not lead to marriage.
I grew up with divorced parents, and quite a few of my school friends also had divorced parents. It made me quite paranoid about ever getting married, so I made a couple rules:
Another little relationship hack I learned is to apologize for every little thing sincerely and with follow-through. This serves two purposes:
Did they not love you before you got married? Only thing that changed for me was -Β£10k
I always find it weird how some people spend thousands just to announce "our relationship is the same, but now we told the government"
It's the ultimate party to celebrate your relationship with those you love and care about and people who have seen your relationship grow. The documents portion is a very small section of the night or weekend or whatever. Besides the bill I would love to experience my wedding weekend again, only thing I'd change is not inviting one person who tried to make it about themselves and tried their best to actively spoil the weekend but it wasn't that big of deal in the end.
What's stopping you? Go do it!
I mean besides the main thing mentioned, lots of things. Doesnt have to be the same giant party as before but that's why I'd want to experience that day again, in the 3 years many people have had kids, couples have broken up, family moved farther away, etc, it wouldn't be able to be the same.
I'm sorry to hear that, let's hope a new chance presents itself eventually
Think of it more as "this is the best excuse we are ever gonna have to throw a big party where we get to decide the guests, the food, etc etc"
Though I do think too many people spend a lot of money because they feel like they "are supposed to (have a big wedding)" and not because they actually want to
Hahaha, I've never needed an excuse! Mayhaps :p
F what you're "supposed to", really. And I'll freely tell any family member or friend that. Rudely if I need to. I've heard some of the dumbest stuff come from people just because of weird traditions.
Glad it's worked well for the original OP.
I still remember reading in the book "Thinking Fast and Slow" and the research they presented on happiness. Apparently their data averaged out to: 1. baseline happiness when single, 2. big spike up in the first year of marriage, 3. Settles at a permanent level below the baseline (from when single).
The main problem is that making a happy marriage stay happy takes a lot of daily work. Thankfully my parents showed me how to do that, and more importantly my dad showed me how to make it fun.
A lot of couples stop dating after they get married, it seems they just want to go through a checklist
Does that book mention that married women die earlier?
Which is patently untrue, on average married women live about 2 years longer than unmarried women
Well, that depends of which study you look at
Aww so sweet <3
This makes my heart so happy β€οΈ