Cherishing Your Spouse Through Date Night


This week we are focusing on “Cherishing your spouse”.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to do homework than I am this week.  I don’t know of any other class that assigns date nights with your spouse!  One article I read this week in from The National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, The Date Night Opportunity by W. Bradford Wilcox and Jeffery Dew.  I found their studies on couple’s date nights and how they impacted marriages.  They show direct correlation to frequency of date nights between couples and their happiness within their marriages to those who end up divorcing.
 Wilcox and Dew’s study shows how date nights strengthen marriages in many ways such as communication, novelty, Eros, Commitment, and de-stress.

  • Communication – Date night removes every day distractions such as children and employment.  This gives couples an opportunity to talk about their feelings, plans, and dreams.  This can connect couples in a deeper relationship. 
  • Novelty – Often couples as the years pass, they can get into a rut.  The time that they spend together can be taken for granted.  It is important to create fun dates that will create excitement and adventure within the relationship.  An important note to this is that the activities are done in balance to each other’s interests, so that individuals get to share an experience that they enjoy with their spouse.
  • Eros – “date nights allow couples to focus on their relationship, to share feelings, to engage in romantic activities with one another, and to try new things, date nights may strengthen or rekindle that romantic spark that can be helpful in sustaining the res of love over the long haul. All of these things can foster higher levels of sexual satisfaction in their marriage or relationship.
  • Commitment – By setting aside specific time to date your spouse shows commitment to you spouse and to others.  It shows that the time spent with each other is important. 
  • De-stress – Stress takes a big toll on relationships.  As a couple, removing themselves from the stressors of life gives a couple the opportunity to relax together and discussion and enjoy moments and discussions that are not such difficult topics.  Dates give a necessary reprieve from stressors that can be corrosive to relationships.

Couple time improves marriages, reduces divorce rates, and improves sexual satisfaction.



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