Marriage Can Be Like Whitewater Rafting
If you are a “thrill seeker” or the adventurous type you may have experienced firsthand the excitement of whitewater rafting, but for the rest of us, we have experienced it by watching others.
Regardless of whether we have experienced whitewater rafting firsthand or had the privilege of watching others, you will quickly realized a few important skills are necessary to navigate through the treacherous terrain and turbulence waters the rafters may face on their journey. Communication and teamwork are crucial to the rafters’ success.
Normally, when the rafters start out on their journey the water is relatively calm; therefore; communication and teamwork are not very important. The rafters are just going with the “flow” of the current.
The same thing occurs in marriage!!
When a couple starts out in marriage, they are just “riding the wave of love”. They are experiencing wedding bliss. They say to each other, “This great!! It can’t get any better than this!!”
They are caught up and enjoying the moment. They are not concern about developing survival skills; they are just going with the flow.
However; they don’t realize, just like with the rafters, just around the corner is their first obstacle.
Sometimes in whitewater rafting the trip brings the rafters to a point where two streams of water come together. At the point where the streams come together there is “whitewater” and turbulence. The rafters have little or no time to develop a strategy, communication and teamwork is of utmost importance at this point, because things are happening very fast.
In marriage, soon after the honeymoon, the newlyweds may face their first obstacle as well. They soon realize that this other person they married is not perfect. They have their first disagreement. It may be something major like the financial challenges resulting from their wedding, issues with the in-laws, or an unexpected pregnancy. Or something minor such as how to place the toilet tissue on the roll, how to squeeze the toothpaste, or how to fold the towels.
When the rafters enter the turbulent whitewater, they recognize their success and survival is based on their ability to communicate and work as a team. If they are effective in communicating and teamwork they will be able to keep the raft upright and all the rafters on board. If not, someone or everyone may get toss overboard.
When the couple face their first obstacle, if they are effective in keeping the lines of communication open and work as a team, they can get through this obstacle and move further in their journey together as a couple. However; if they are not able to reach a workable solution, someone may be “toss” overboard through divorce or separation.
Research indicates that approximately 25% of marriage interruptions occur before the 3rd anniversary. Also, research indicates that 32% of couples who divorce or separate do so by the 4th year of marriage.
In marriage, like in rafting, you will face whitewater and turbulent circumstances. If the couple is effective in communication and teamwork, they have a great chance of successfully navigating through the “whitewater” situations of life and continuing their journey together with everyone on board. The couple must realize that the situation they are going through is temporary, and if they hang in there and work together, they will get through it.
In marriage, just like in whitewater rafting, the further you go down stream the calmer the waters will get. In other words, couples will learn to pick their battles. Also, they will soon realize what things will change in the marriage and those that will not, and they must make the adjustments.
However; in marriage, just like whitewater rafting, there will be other obstacles to face just around the next turn. Therefore; keep the lines of communication open, work together as a team, and your journey to “marriage rhythm” will be a success.
Please provide me your comments on this topic. If you have additional topics you would like to see us discuss, please send me an email or post a comment.
Also, refer this site to other men you know, so we all can journey together!!
For the ladies, Sylvia has a personal development site focused specifically on the needs and concerns of women. The site is called, www.thedashlady.com.
For the men, Randy has a personal development site focused specifically on the needs and concerns of men. The site is called, www.thedashguy.com.
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Again, thanks for visiting this site.
Randy & Sylvia Clark
randy_sylvia@marriagerhythm.com
