Oh, I don't know ... Just be happy!

Why is it, when asked to give advice to a new bride, that I freeze up? I mean, it should be pretty easy to come up with some kind of fail-safe advice for someone who hasn't been married. But when faced with that task today, I blanked. Sure, "Never go to sleep mad" is sound advice, but is it logical? Not after a while. Once you've been married for a while, going to sleep mad just means that you'll have a quiet night of sleep while your spouse is on the sofa. "Truly listen to each other," sounds good in practice, but eventually, what the other person is saying doesn't make any sense, so you're better off ignoring them.
Honestly, the best I could come up with was, Enjoy this adventure, because it's a grand one; and Nurture your sense of humor, because you'll need it. Both those have been my mantra for the last almost 13 years. I've always said that if Brian didn't make me laugh as much as he does, he would have been kicked to the curb years ago.
The best thing about marriage advice from your friends and family is that it is almost always inapplicable to your own specific situation. I guess that would be the best advice: Don't listen to everyone else's advice. Blaze your own way. Follow your own path. If he won't pay for a cleaning service, make him scrub his own toilet.