What happens when you have a broken marriage? Is it time to throw in the towel, or is it possible to fix a broken marriage?
Below is a response to one of our Reader Surveys, showing a broken marriage, or one without love, is a real problem for many, including my own marriage.
How do I get our marriage to be ‘in love’ again, like it used to before we were married?”
After 20 years of marriage, my wife and I have experienced many seasons in marriage, and not all of the seasons were enjoyable. The divorce statistics show “falling out of love” is very common, as some studies show about half of marriages end in divorce. It’s a scary place to be, and it can seem like it came out of nowhere.
It’s a choice to fix a broken marriage
The reality is if you’ve reached the point where you feel like you are no longer “in love,” or your marriage is broken, it’s been happening over time.
It’s just like how people who are in over the heads in debt, didn’t accrue that amount of debt overnight. The debt was created by one financial decision after another that finally reached the point of being overwhelmed.
There is good news. Just like a series of choices can lead to massive debt or a rough season in marriage, a series of choices can lead you out. I believe there are 5 things you can focus on to fix a broken marriage, and fall in love all over again with your spouse.
1 – Rebuild your foundation
You may or may not have started with a good foundation for your marriage. Even if you did, but you’ve drifted, you need to work on your foundation. Think about the guiding principles in your life and your relationship. If you’ve never set a solid foundation, it’s never too late.
No foundation is built without first having an idea of what the final result will be. When you said “I do,” what did you envision for your marriage?
And more important why did you envision those things. Let that be your start, and begin to discuss what you can do daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly to achieve that.
2 – Go to school and “major” in your spouse
One statement that seems to go with “we are no longer in love” is “I don’t know my husband/wife anymore.” Which makes sense because for you and me to love a person or even a thing, we need to have some sort of intimate connection or knowledge of them.
I love sports, especially basketball. I started playing basketball at around age three. I’ve played competitively since the third grade all the way through college and even played in adult leagues until I began coaching my kids. I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know the game of basketball, and because of it I fell in love, and remain in love with it to this day.
If we are to remain in love with our spouse, and vice versa, we need to intimately know them. We need to discover things about them, and never stop trying to discover new things. One key component to this is having regular date nights. We’ve recently made this a priority and the results have been amazing!
Dating is how you fell in love before marriage, and dating will be how you stay in love after marriage. Share on X3 – Draw a line in the sand
Let’s be completely real. Marriage is NO JOKE! Two people with two different upbringings and two different personalities and two different life experiences coming together as one? There is nothing easy about that.
There will come a time where you feel stuck and there may come a time where you want out altogether. This is where you draw a line in the sand, and not just once, but every single time any of those feelings come up.
Your line in the sand says we will not entertain anything except making our marriage work. No matter what challenges we face, we will persevere. And that means not just stay together, but be fulfilled together. This means there is no separation, no divorce, and no mention of it at all. It won’t be easy, but it’s possible. You just have to decide.
4 – Put things back in place
I don’t know what you’ve faced in your marriage. There may be things broken, feelings hurt, and things done which you feel you can never come back from. Don’t believe it. Your marriage can be fixed, the pieces can be put back together.
This involves consistently doing the three things mentioned before. But it also includes going the extra step or mile. It means loving your husband/wife unconditionally by not dwelling or “beating him/her up” over minor things. It includes speaking to them in a way that makes them feel loved, speak their love language.
And most importantly it includes putting your marriage in the proper place and making it a priority. The relationship with our kids is not number one, our marriage is.
When you make your marriage a priority it gives life to your marriage Share on X5 – Appreciate and enjoy your marriage
I heard a quote that said, “you take your spouse for granted until you are walking by the casket.” That’s extreme, but it’s real. My wife and I have seen the unexpected loss of a spouse first hand when my sister lost her husband to cancer, and when a close friend died of cancer leaving behind our friend/her husband.
While our marriages are not only about our enjoyment, they are meant to be enjoyed. Our marriages can and should prosper. Your marriage can prosper, but it gets to the point of prospering by you taking one small action at a time over the course of your marriage.
