Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. Wow! That’s a lifetime in comparison to the short duration of many marriages today. What has helped our love to endure is that we not only vowed to: “…have and hold, in sickness and in health,” but we committed to helping each other stay healthy.
Because we had already adopted a vegetarian lifestyle before we married, we willingly became partners in each other’s quest to live a healthy lifestyle. This commitment meant encouraging, motivating, inspiring, and helping one another live a life free of sickness, illness, and chronic diseases such as Type II diabetes, high-blood pressure, and high-cholesterol; all of which can be prevented with proper diet.
A sudden illness, from a preventable disease, along with overwhelming medical bills, can cause irrevocable emotional and financial damage on a family. For these reasons, it’s important that couples commit to helping each other stay healthy. Wouldn’t it be great if the wedding vows were changed to reflect the importance of healthy living:
“I vow to exercise several days a week, to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, use healthy ingredients to cook and prepare meals, avoid fast food as much as possible, reduce my sodium and sugar levels, strive to keep our home peaceful and stress-free, and most of all, do all I can to keep you healthy.”
Now, what better way to say ‘I love you’ than by helping your partner to live a long, healthy life!
Real Home Matters 