I love solid, actionable advice, the kind I read and excitedly think to myself, “This is great. I can use this!”
That’s exactly what I thought when I came across a blog post by Jeff Goins called The Secret to Having a Marriage That Never Goes Stale.
While I’m not married or currently in a long-term relationship, I am always interested in making my current relationships better and learning for the future. Plus, good advice about relationships tends to boil down to good advice about life. His advice is simply this:
Always have something to look forward to.
Why? First, it breaks up the monotony. Second, if you’re in a relationship, it gives you and your significant other a common goal. The shared project unites you.
“Marriage begins with excitement, but as with any emotional high, it has its boring moments. Times when you wake up next to the love of your life and the morning breath gets the best of you. You may have vowed to experience the adventure of life together, but don’t be surprised when your story has a little taste of the mundane. That’s called life.”
~ Jeff Goins, The Secret to Having a Marriage That Never Goes Stale
It’s a good way to live, regardless of your current relationship status. What we look forward to will be as unique we are — a trip to a new country, race day for your first (or 15th) half-marathon, or spending the holidays with family.
This idea of planning ahead and anticipating something as a way of shaking off the mundane and monotonous is why I choose to travel now, to find the adventure that fits the amount of time I have available instead of pushing off all the adventure until a later time, which may or may not come.
It’s also why I can’t stomach the sentiment that anyone who looks forward to a vacation needs to create a life they don’t want to escape. Everyone needs a break from their routine, no matter how much they love their life.
~
P.S. — I’ve been looking forward to my first backpacking trip down in the Grand Canyon to see the teal waters of Havasu Falls since April. Now it’s two weeks away! It’ll be my first trip with no showers and a 30+ lb pack!? Wish me luck. :)
