Three Ways Marriage Is Like Nike

1. The Swoosh

The experience of being married resembles a Nike Swoosh.

Marriages can start strong, but after the initial infatuation and romance fades, they tend to have a bit of a dip. But if you work hard and commit to your marriage, it can once again become elevated and soar even higher, leaving you more connected than you ever before.

Dr. Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., founded Imago Therapy, claims that marriages typically follow a ‘U’ curve. They start out strong, then can drop in enjoyment, but typically pick up again over time.

The key to enjoying that upper slope of the Nike curve is to stick with it when times are tough. Every marriage has highs and lows. Embracing the down can actually help propel you upward again.

The law of gravity states that what goes up must come down; Judaism believes that what goes down can propel you upwards again. This is the Jewish concept of teshuva, repentance, a key ingredient in moving forward with marriage (and life). Every marriage has its lows and challenges. Marriages don’t continuously move only in an upward slope. The goal is to commit when you’re down to confront your issues so you can rebound up again.

If you want to have marital harmony, learn how to bear the discomfort of the moment.

Stick with the lows, power through the tough times together, and you will soon enjoy that Nike swoosh again.

2. Just do it

How many of us have an easy time thanking the mailman or the clerk at the store, yet when it comes to the people most important to you, like your spouse and children, you feel awkward and vulnerable giving thanks? People have a hard time thanking those closest to them.

Even if it feels awkward or not genuine—just do it.

It may feel uncomfortable at first, but do it anyway. You will gradually change through your actions, and at a certain point you’ll start to feel genuine about it. Enjoy giving your spouse pleasure!

Your spouse did something nice and you want to thank them but feel weird? Just do it.

Your wife wants you to take out the trash? Just do it.

Your husband wants you to get off the phone and pay attention to him? Just do it.

Make Nike’s motto your own: Just do it.

You are in this relationship to learn to become a giver and to grow as a person. Just do it.

3. It’s not a finish line

“No Finish Line” was another successful Nike slogan. The catchy phrase expressed their belief in the limitless potential of sport. The phrase also encapsulates an important understanding about marriage.

Marriage is not a destination; it’s a lifelong journey—and it is forever – you and your spouse are bonded for eternity.

While you endure the marathon of life together, remember, you are not trying to cross a finish line, rather you are teammates with a unified goal — to connect to each other and to create a life of meaning and love, suffused with Jewish values and wisdom.

According to the Jewish perspective, marriage is the unification of two halves that become one soul, complete and one. Your spouse is a part of you; the two of you are a single unit, eternally intertwined. This connection transcends this world and continues in the Next World for eternity. That’s why the relationship you have with your spouse is even more important than the relationship you have with your child. Your child will grow up and embark on his independent life. Marriage continues forever.

Any eternal reward that you achieve in the World to Come will be shared with your spouse. And much of your reward in the next world will be shaped by how you treated your spouse while you were alive. You are one, for eternity. There is no finish line.