Time to Celebrate Marriage

As the years go by and I see another wedding anniversary pass, I can't help but think that the years are going pretty quickly, and that the couple in the wedding pictures look a little younger than they do in the mirror.  But that's ok because we've got time on our side, right?  I mean we've had time to travel, be together, compromise, fight, forgive, and love.  We've laughed and cried, been healthy and sick, acted like 21 year old youngsters (just with far worse hangovers), and acted like 80 year old retirees in our pajamas at 7:00 on a Friday night.  Time has been good to us, as it has been to many of the marriages that I see around me.  

So with all that time on our side, why is that my friends and I have been talking about marriage more than usual?  Although not as much about the great parts that used to consume our giddy conversations, but more about the challenging parts, the give and the take, and the parts that make marriage seem not so glamorous.  The parts that sometimes remind you that marriage will be work as time continues onward.

I'd be the first to admit that marriage is work.  Some days the work is easy and some days the work is hard.  Some days you feel like doing it and frankly, some days you don't.  Some days are full of joy and some days frustration.  I think that's a pretty honest opinion about marriage.  If someone says otherwise, then good for them, but most would probably agree with me.

So the question is why do you continue through life with the same person that you've promised to marry years ago if it can be so much "work?"  Sometimes, especially in today's world, the answer is you don't, and there are times that you shouldn't.  But for the many that continue down the  road of marriage (or who are currently choosing marriage), it seems this question has no generic answer.  Marriage is a choice.  A fun, fulfilling choice, but still something that you must decide you want to stick with and pursue.  It is different for every person and marriage.  What works for one, might not work for another. 

So even after all the work that marriage can be, sometimes it isn't work at all.  There are times when you and your partner are truly in-sync, times when you feel like you can conquer the world just by being together, and times when the beauty of marriage is overwhelming.  Those times solidify the choice you made and make you realize why you continue to do it day after day.  The love from marriage can truly sweep you off your feet, which is why you can continue when some days are a little harder than others.

 It confirms that even though it is work sometimes, most good things in life are.  Because if it wasn't work every now and then, would we truly appreciate and respect marriage for the gift that it should be?