515: MARRIAGE THROUGH THE YEARS: PART 5 — MOVING DAY

“All great changes are preceded by chaos.” —Deepak Chopra

When married, we all have “moving days” from moving into your first home, moving on to a new job or moving into a new season in your life with kids. Every couple has to face at least one type of moving day in their lives.

For some of us, they happen over time, while others occur in clusters. Moving happens and each comes with its own level of stress.

Each moving day can come with:

• Money constantly going out. 
• What do you keep, toss and donate?
• The idea of moving closer or farther away from friends or family. 
• You not feeling settled.
• Feeling uncertain about what’s to come. 

It does not matter if you are moving two blocks away to a bigger or smaller place or across the country. Moving often amplifies stress levels because it quickly shows you who’s more sentimental and wants to hold on to everything or the one that wants to purge the stuff you haven’t used in a while.

Once you get through packing everything up, then you know that very shortly you’ll have to unpack everything. The whole “moving place” can quickly create an unsettled feeling in many areas of your life. 

If you’re planning a move, then the best thing you can do is to create a plan. Although the “goal” is to get to the new place, creating a plan helps you to feel more in control and more driven by purpose rather than spun up by all the little things that are happening in the moving process. 

Here are a few things you’ll want to include in your plan to help manage decision fatigue and give you and your spouse direction: 

• How are you going to decide what to keep and what to let go of?
• Who’s going to do what?
• What’s your budget? 
• Can you afford movers? Do you want movers?
• What’s your timeline? 
• How are the two of you going to stay connected and function as a team? 

Although it’s exciting, moving is never going to be without stress. That’s why creating a game plan is so essential to finding success no matter what type of move you’re experiencing in your marriage.

477: Emotional Exhaustion

507: Marriage Through The Years Part 1 — Newly Wed

509: Marriage Through The Years Part 2 — Child Rearing Years

511: Marriage Through The Years Part 3 — Chore Wars

513: Marriage Through The Years Part 4 — Work-Life Balance

515: Marriage Through The Years Part 5 — Moving Day

517: Marriage Through The Years Part 6 — Getting Older

519: Marriage Through The Years Part 7 — Sandwich Generation

521: Marriage Through The Years Part 8 — Golden Years