Man Explains What He Has Learned From 20 Years Of Marriage In 10 Bullet Points

As it was already mentioned in another Bored Panda article on what happens when parents have stronger emotional bonds with their kids than their spouses: relationships are hard.

But, as it is with many things in life, it’s not impossible. Work on it, and you’re golden.

Imgur user that1guy15 recently celebrated 20 years of marriage, and decided to share the ten things he learned from living together with his wife for so long with the internet—the “tips I have learned the hard way on how to build a strong and meaningful marriage.”

More Info: Imgur

Marriage is hard, sure, but working on it—together—can do wonders

Image credits: Wendy Berry

So, Imgur user that1guy15 recently went to the social image sharing platform to share that he is now a 20-year veteran in marriage—congrats, dude!—expressing his surprise how he had lasted this long in what he called a crazy fun ride.

To celebrate this, he decided to share 10 lessons that he had learned over these two decades on marriage, namely on how to build and maintain a strong and meaningful marriage.

So, this husband celebrated his 20 years of happy marriage by sharing a list of lessons he learned over the years

Image credits: that1guy15

In this set of rules, he covered things like effective communication, conflict resolution, trust, sex, among a number of other things, providing a certain reality check along the way.

In particular, the lessons focused on things like marriage being a team effort (emphasis on effort) and not a competition between two individuals; how communication is key and nobody’s a mind reader; and how hard work, trust, and acceptance are essential in building and maintaining a healthy marriage.

Image credits: that1guy15

It’s been a day since the list of lessons hit the internet, and it has thus far managed to garner over 66,000 views with over 5,200 upvotes and around 520 comments.

This prompted a number of people in the Imgur community to share some of their stories and rules. Many agreed with this list, praising that they couldn’t have said it better themselves.

Image credits: that1guy15

People who have been married for anywhere between 10 and 40 years stressed how communication is key. Some also pointed out that though teamwork is important, forgetting the individual isn’t an option either—so why not turn individual goals into a team effort?

People loved the thread and some also shared their own lessons with the Imgur community

Others offered never forcing solutions, and to not forget to give some issues time. There was also one user who reminded people that, whenever you’re in an argument, don’t forget that you will remain together in the end.

Of course, there was the obligatory “keep your mouth shut” comment, but it was in light of being angry, so as to not say anything stupid. After all, you can’t take those words back.