One night this summer, a couple who’d been married for decades were home alone for a full month while their children were at camp. The first week was fantastic – quite, relaxed, they had an opportunity to reconnect and do things on their own time.
By the third week, they were climbing the walls, desperate for the kids to return home.
“What do you miss most about the kids,” the husband asked the wife one waning evening.
“I don’t want to talk about the kids,” she replied. And the house fell silent.
Deathly silent.
When the kids are poised to leave soon for college – will you be ready? Will you and your partner have anything left to say or do together? Will you even like each other?
For decades, we pour ourselves into raising a family – often to the exclusion of everything else, including personal time, couple connection, sex life, individual interests and more. Sometimes, by the time the nest is empty, it’s just too late.
Don’t let that happen. Find something the two of you can do together NOW, to connect, to rekindle the spark that brought you together, to remember you do have a deep and meaningful connection.
Ballroom dance is a perfect way to resurrect your relationship. Setting aside one night a week for dance lessons (and another night, possibly, for a group lesson or dance party), will reignite the flame burning within your relationship far before it is ready to blow out.
Many midlife divorces can be avoided – if the couple is determined to remain connected throughout the life of their relationship. You can’t fall into autopilot and assume that time will be your friend.
Relationships take work. (Like dance.) You have to learn to be in sync and practice every day. (Like dance.) You have to make time and focus on the task at hand. (Like dance.)
You have to want to succeed, to make it effortless because you’ve put in so much effort and interest. (Again, like dance.)
Let dance show you how to last over the long-term.