4 Helpful Tips for Your First Year of Marriage

You’ve gotten married—or you’re about to—and you’re embarking on that first year of marriage. You will experience so many adjustments, and whether you’re ready for them or not, they will come. Some say that the first year of marriage is the hardest. It’s the year you quickly discover all the hidden habits you didn’t know your significant other had. Oh, you thought you knew, but you really didn’t. Some of them can be annoying pet peeves, and others can be significant, but they’re there, nonetheless.

In addition to the unknowns coming into view, you also must become accustomed to sharing all over again. It’s like back in the day when you lived with a sibling, only this person claims equal rights to your belongings, and there’s no mom or dad in the corner to ring the bell for a time-out during the fight.

Then there are the unique nuances of not being your own entity. In other words, running to the grocery store on a whim for ice cream now comes with the factor that you should probably let your spouse know where you are going; they’ll probably ask why, and suddenly, your independent and relaxing outing to the store is added to with additional items or perhaps a sidekick who decides to come along and crash the party.

The fact is you are no longer single. You are not a solitary person moving on your own, living on your own, creating on your own, and being on your own. This can be a great thing! It can also challenge you in ways you weren’t expecting.

So, what tips for the first year of marriage can help you adjust and embrace the definition of being one-half of a whole?