Schedule a Fun Date

 For many married couples, the thought of going out on a date the same way they used to do it before they married is almost forgotten. Taking out the trash and scrapping the grease off the spaghetti pan is not romantic, but it must be done. A lot of times an outsider has to come to revive the romance in the marriage. That is why Michael Systma writes the article “Schedule a Fun Date”, to help married couples bring the dating era back into their lives. 

            The article “Schedule a Fun Date” was written by Michael Systma, PhD is a nationally counselor and a certified sex therapist. The article was published in the Wesleyan Life Magazine on the October 2010 edition. This article can also be found at www.wesleyanlifeonline.com/article/166. The article “Schedule a Fun Date” is successful because it helps married couples with busy schedules to intentionally schedule a fun date with their spouse, and effectively provides tips to facilitate success on the date.

In the article, the author provides important information to facilitate success on a fun date. He does this successfully by breaking it into six points that he calls “simple rules”, helping the reader to remember the rules easier than if he had presented a single paragraph containing a lot of information that the reader will have to put into practice. That is why the message, is divided into six points, giving the illusion of less words. The simple rules are, Take Initiative, Plan Ahead, Make it Fun, Ask your Spouse Out,  Don’t go there, and Make it a Tradition. This simple rules which are in bold and set aside, clearly describe the plan to follow when going out on a date, because the author uses simple, common and everyday language, such as when he explains that “jumping on a car, looking at each other and asking ‘So, what do you want to do?’ does not make for a fun date”. If the reader has only few minutes to look at the magazine and scam through the article, he or she will have the motivation and the tools from the simple rules to go and ask the spouse out.

After reading the simple rules and its explanation, the author facilitates success on the fun date. With the simple rules he is eliminating all the things that may cause trouble on the date such as “Don’t talk about controversial topics”. He also suggests to make the date a tradition and a formal event, for example when he mentions to “Ask your spouse out by using a card or a phone call and by making the date a biweekly tradition”. The author is not setting rules that can not be modified by the reader; instead he is presenting a sample plan to help couples reach a more romantic mood and therefore an intimate closeness in the relationship. 

Finally,  as a married person, I recommend this article to all  married couples that are not yet dating their spouses on a regular basis. After reading it, they will know a single step that will improve their marriage. Families start as a couple, and because the family is the center of society. Dating our spouse will impact our world in a positive way, as a result of investing time, resources and effort to the relationship.