I believe that everyone, everyone, has a purpose for being on this planet. That we, each of us, are here, not by chance, but by design, and that we all have something that we are supposed to be doing through our lives that benefits the whole and moves us, as a society, forward.
Does everyone fulfil their purpose, or even know what it is? No. Nonetheless, I believe that we all have one, and that the most successful people both know what it is and devote their lives to it.
Marriages are a funny thing. In one sense they are a partnership of 2 people, each living out their own purpose, and in another it is a single entity (…and the two shall become one.) with its own purpose for being.
One purpose for marriage is to help each of the partners grow as people and into their own individual purposes. However, I’m certain that there is more to it than that. Each marriage also has an ordained reason for existing. It’s our job as spouses to find it.
The most successful marriages have a shared purpose. John Gottman placed “Create Shared Meaning” as the roof of his Sound Relationship House (Check out Escape for a picture) and that placement is brilliant.
Creating shared meaning is all about the purpose of your marriage. It encompasses all of the shared memories you have, all of the family rituals you have created, and, most importantly, the shared knowledge of the purpose of your marriage.
The roof of a house protects it from outside storms that would otherwise destroy its contents. Similarly, knowing the purpose of your marriage helps protect it from the inevitable stresses that come along. Knowing the purpose of your marriage, and living it out is one of the strongest protections you can have to ensure that you will maintain a happy and successful marriage for a lifetime.