Marriage Minded: Where Is Your Marriage Headed?

As I was sitting in church this past Sunday, my Pastor stated, “My marriage would not have survived if we didn’t have a vision. He must have been right, since he has been in an interracial marriage for the past 23 years.
As I shouted a big AMEN, I understood where he was coming from since, I had been in interracial relationships in the 80’s. I remember the mental lynching I received daily, so I can’t even imagine how it would have been if I was married back then, that is a topic for a later blog.

I was more intrigued about the fact that he mentioned he had vision. In early stages of marriage, it is good to establish a vision for your marriage. Having a vision will allow you to create a vivid mental picture of what you want your marriage to be and where you want it to go.

There are three ways having a vision is helpful for your marriage.
Having a vision in marriage creates a desire to succeed in the marriage. You can look forward toward your goals and celebrate when you as a couple meet them. If you happen to fall short in certain areas, you can step back and see why you are having setbacks.

Having a vision creates a discipline. When you know and understand the vision you have established in your marriage, you have to work at it to see that the vision comes to fruition. That takes discipline. For example, if you as a couple have established that you will meet for lunch, once a week in order to spend time together, that takes planning as well and time. The quickest ways to sidetracking the vision are distractions.

Having a vision creates development you have to constantly review and develop the vision you have developed. Over time as you add children, go through career, or lifestyle changes or just plain advance in years, your marriage is going to evolve. If you don’t acknowledge the changes in you are your partner and accept them as part of that evolvement, your vision may suffer.

In the next blog, we will see what are some components of a family vision statement.

Keith Dent
Certified Marriage Coach
President and Founder - Strive 2 Succeed Coaching Services
www.strive-2-succeed.com