Creating Your Marriage Bucket List

Do you and your spouse have a bucket list?

Creating a bucket list of things the two of you want to accomplish together will create added meaning and closeness in your marriage - it also gives you fun goals to shoot for! In the process of dreaming together, preparing together, and accomplishing big things together, you will find yourself feeling united with your spouse in ways you can't even imagine. 

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"A list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying."1 

Do you and your spouse have a bucket list? A list of things you want to do TOGETHER? If not, now would be a perfect time to go to your special place, and start writing. Dream big. 

In the process of creating a bucket list, you will learn more about your spouse - their hopes and dreams, their plans for your future together, etc. You will be able to see eye-to-eye about the things that matter most to each of you. 

Your bucket list may have big items like "Visit the Great Wall of China," or smaller items like, "Buy a homeless person lunch." You might come up with a health-oriented goal such as, "Hike a mountain," or a financial goal like, "Save $10,000 in long-term savings by the end of the year." Or maybe you want to learn Spanish together, or read a complete book series together. Need more ideas? Check out our Pinterest board here.

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As you create your bucket list (we use a Google doc that we can both add to), start to create a timeline for yourselves. Decide which items can be accomplished in six months, which ones in three years, five years, ten years, etc.

Once you know what you want to accomplish, start planning! Do you need to save money for that trip to the Bahamas? What kind of physical preparation do you need to do (aka, start) in order to run a marathon together (or in our case, a 5k)? 

Without realizing it, your bucket list has now created shared goals and planned activities for you to do together. That means you will be sharing a lot of time and space together, and that you will have a lot more in the "common interest" category to talk about. Wowzers. This is certainly going to nurture your marriage. 

Did you know that sharing your deepest dreams and goals with your spouse is a form of intimacy? This kind of ongoing-exercise of making plans and working together to achieve them will draw you closer together, enhance your cohesion, and help you find greater meaning in your marriage. 

Finally, take lots of pictures and keep a detailed record of everything you accomplish together. Not only will you enjoy the feeling of checking items off your bucket list, but you will find joy in the memories you have created, the friendship you have strengthened, and happiness you are experiencing in life, and in marriage. 

So go dream big. And then dream bigger. 

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