Sharing your secret to a happy marriage with your Grands is an opportunity to influence and heal. Marriage stats show the struggles marriages today are facing. By sharing your secrets to maintaining a happy marriage you not only exert some positive influence on your Grands, but you may bring some healing perspective to the disillusionment among younger folks as they consider marriage for themselves.
More and more young people are choosing not to marry or postponing marriage until much later than past generations. For those of us who enjoy strong marriages, we realize the loss of opportunity this might create in young lives. Finding a life companion, sharing the ups and downs of life together, overcoming trials, and enjoying the great times of family are wonderful life experiences. Experiences not to be missed.
Tips for Sharing Your Secret to a Happy Marriage
As you consider sharing your secret, or secrets, to a happy marriage I’d suggest keeping the following in mind:
Be real.
Dig deep into your experience and find the two to five things you really think make your married life work. Then share those nuggets of wisdom honestly and regularly at key times. If the Grands ask questions, answer them. Be mindful of age-appropriate answers, but be honest. It’s okay to discuss the difficulties faced by couples, just don’t dwell in that space without balancing it out with how struggles often bring important life lessons. Teach a balanced view of living with someone over the course of decades. Share the rewards of learning to do so.
Share often.
Human beings usually need more than one conversation, experience, or class to learn any lesson. Drop these conversations into interaction with Grands often enough to make the point. The casual comments about how much you love your mate are important to the overall lesson too. Young family members need to hear affirmations of love in their immediate family. It helps them build secure relationships.
Demonstrate Your Secret to a Happy Marriage.
Hold hands, give hugs, be kind. My goodness, the modern world is suffering a lack of kindness at times. When you demonstrate showing affection to your spouse you are sending profound unspoken messages to your Grands. You’ll find this verified as your Grands get older and will still hug you, kiss you on the cheek, or even occasionally grab your hand. When they learn appropriate affection among family members from their early years, it’s much easier to transition that behavior into their own marriage and family life later on.
Whatever your secret to a happy marriage is, be sure to pass it down and preserve the joy of married life into the next generation. Marriage is a long experience and can be one of the most rewarding of life. It takes work and we can begin teaching young family members from early childhood how to build their own happy marriage when the time comes.
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