Today is my parent's 60th wedding anniversary.
Not only is that an incredible accomplishment today when marriage is under attack on so many fronts, it turns out reaching 60 years is a pretty incredible accomplishment in any day.
One of my mom's cousins explored my mom's side of the family and found my parents are the first since a couple married in 1766 to reach 60 years of marriage. Of course, in true fashion for my parents, they don't want to call any attention to this momentous event. So nothing special is planned, and, much to my frustration, I'm not going to be able to be with them.
What to do instead?
My dad (who is a Brainzooming blog subscriber) has been trying to get me to rerun previous blog posts to save time I can put into other business building activities. We talk about it occasionally, and I try to explain that because of how search engines work, you can get penalized for doing that, unlike a newspaper columnist or TV show that uses reruns to fill space when they are not producing new content.
Today though, I'm breaking my self-imposed prohibition on rerunning blog posts, and sharing this post from two years ago about personal relationship lessons from my parent's marriage. Since I don't necessarily have a lot to add from the original two years ago, here are six important things I've learned about relationships from my parents' marriage:
6 Personal Relationship Lessons from My Parents’ 60 Years of Marriage
Congratulations Mom and Dad for making a commitment to each other and living it out in your marriage during an era when society as a whole seems to have less respect for commitment by the day.
Growing up with such a stable family life and living in a unique small town with many of the trappings of a much larger city provided tremendous advantages. I am so blessed to have had that upbringing.
I have started writing posts on lessons learned from my mom anddad individually. On their wedding anniversary, however, here are six personal relationship lessons they have demonstrated as a married couple which have tremendously shaped my views on marriage specifically, and personal relationships in general:
- Not only do opposites attract, opposites make a stronger team. My parents are very different from one another, which strengthened them as a couple. I have some of both their diverse characteristics. While that can frustrate me about myself, I also see where it importantly helps in considering diverse viewpoints.
- Talk about stuff with each other. Discuss what is in front of you, consider your options, and make the best decision you can.
- Don’t get caught up in yourself. Be humble and appreciative of everything you receive because it’s all a gift.
- You may not have an obligation to do so, but when somebody who is trying hard needs help, provide the help without any expectations about what you’re going to get out of it.
- There’s always going to be something in the future to provide the gratification you may be seeking today. As a result, waiting until you can afford the gratification won’t kill you or even harm you very much at all.
- It’s important to tell people you love them – daily.
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the free Brainzooming blog email updates.
Download the free ebook, “Taking the NO Out of InNOvation” to help you generate fantastic creative thinking and ideas! For an organizational innovation success boost, contact The Brainzooming Group to help your team be more successful by rapidly expanding strategic options and creating innovative plans to efficiently implement. Email us at info@brainzooming.com or call us at 816-509-5320 to learn how we can deliver these benefits for you.
