Improve Your Marriage by Doing Fun Activities Together
One of the best prescriptions to improve your marriage can be to have some fun together. Although it seems like a simple idea, it can go a long way to improving your marriage. However, many couples report a variety of reasons that prevent them from having fun together.
How Fun Activities Can Help
Doing fun things together can bring you closer as a couple. Remember when you were dating? Likely, you participated in fun activities together and those activities probably helped you to get to know one another better. So, consider going back to the basics and spending some quality time together having fun.
If your marriage is feeling strained already, it may be that you don’t want to spend time together as much. This can lead to a downward spiral. The more people don’t spend time together doing anything fun, the worse the relationship can become. Doing some fun things together can help restore the relationship and improve communication problems.
If you aren’t feeling all that loving toward your spouse lately, fun activities can reignite the spark. Changing your behaviors can help change your feelings. So try some experiments. Engage in some fun together and see if it helps you grow closer together.
Get Creative with Your Ideas
A lot of couples are not even sure what constitutes fun anymore. As the years go by, people sometimes grow predictable with their television shows, conversations, and activities which can grow tiresome. So get creative with your ideas of how to have fun together.
Consider doing things you used to do when you were dating. Did you picnic in the park? Eat at different restaurants? Go hiking? Whatever it was that you did, consider trying some of those things again.
Be open to trying new things too. Explore some places you’ve never been. Read the paper to find some local events and activities. Try learning something new together as a couple or join a club or organization. All of these things can help create some excitement for you as a couple.
Spend Time with Fun People
Ever take a look at the people you surround yourself with? Do you they provide you with stimulating, entertaining, or humorous conversation? Or do you find they complain, gossip or have an overall pessimistic view on life? The people you spend your time with can make a big difference to your marriage.
If you don’t have some already, find some fun couples to spend time with. Surround yourself with people who truly enjoy life and adventure and it can be contagious. If you spend time with likeable people, it can inspire you to add more fun and can challenge you to look for more excitement in your life.
Fun Requires Planning
Although it may seem counterintuitive, fun requires some planning. You won’t get good concert seats, a great vacation deal, or the opportunity to visit with out of town friends if you don’t do a little planning. So make some plans to have fun together.
Scheduling some fun activities can help your marriage in several ways. Just having something fun to look forward to can be helpful. As the excitement builds and you have the opportunity to talk about something you have scheduled, it can help you grow closer as a couple.
Then doing an activity together can be the second boost to your relationship. Enjoying one another’s company without the stress of daily activities can help you grow together and appreciate each other.
The third way it can help is that it creates memories. Take some photos and create a scrapbook together. Rehash the good times together. These sorts of things can help you keep those positive feelings and it can help you view your marriage in a more positive light compared to someone who spent each weekend watching television or fighting about chores.
Overcome Obstacles
Identify what gets in the way of doing fun things together and then work together to overcome those obstacles. For some couples this may be time. The responsibilities of work, parenting, and maintaining the household may interfere. However, if this is the case, it’s important to make your marriage a bigger priority in your life.
If money seems to be an obstacle, remember that your activities don’t necessarily have to cost any money. Find free and low cost activities to help you enjoy one another’s company.
For others, the obstacles are more emotional barriers. For example, a wife may say, “I’m sick of always planning everything. I don’t want to plan anything else.” However, by not doing so, they stop doing anything fun and the marriage suffers.
Work together to address these sorts of obstacles and see what steps you are willing to take to make your relationship more fun and exciting. If you struggle to enjoy one another’s company, consider marriage counseling as a way to help restore and improve your marriage.
