Adventures in Marriage

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." - Helen Keller

Let’s be honest. Are you someone your spouse or family would want to adventure with?

Think about it for a minute.


Are you: 
A. Good with letting others lead with their ideas sometimes?
B. Able to try something new once in a while?


Although adventures look different for everyone, I hope you can say yes to these questions because life can be unforgivingly monotonous without little adventures along the way.

And let's be honest, not sharing our adventures with our families can lead us to dig up adventures in places that may not be as healthy.

Why?

According to Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott, adventures are desirable because they contribute to healthy neurotransmission to our brains, particularly surges in dopamine, which is essential to happiness.

As we age, we lose dopamine – it doesn’t regenerate. Our brains are like muscles that need exercise to keep fit, and trying new things does just that.

In addition to brain health, adventures make the rest of our bodies feel alive also. The planning is fun and our hearts swell with joy and connection with shared experiences that are not commonplace.

In many cases, after we return home with these shared memories, we feel along with Dorothy, that there’s no place like home.

We’re talking all about this on the pod and my husband Wes joins me to talk over many of ours over the last 21 years of marriage this June!

Yes, we're focusing on adventures this June as marriage research by the U of Pennsylvania (Kumar, Killingsworth, 2020) also reminds us that it's experiences over things that create happiness.

The good news is, no matter your situation, some kind of intentional adventure is within reach, even if it just means going to your local bookstore and finding the travel section as you make a list.


So join us this month as we begin to really allow in for some mutual and/or individual dreaming, planning, and sacrificing for beautiful experiences together.

Make sure you take a listen to this show as we offer great tips for your next adventures!