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Join the Monthly Surprise Challenge
Stephan and Monica • May 3, 2020
November last year, at an informal dinner in Boston. Over a glass of wine, our friends Martin and Blandine shared their new habit. And the idea struck like a lightening!
“Once a month, one of us surprises the other. With an event that we’re pretty sure will delight our partner”.
A weekend without the kids, a beauty treatment, a dinner at that place he always fancied, that hot air balloon flight she always dreamt of, cooking her favourite dinner, a surprise party with his best friends, a cocktail mixing class, a dance workshop, a love poem or letter…. The possibilities are endless!
“The idea is to create magic moments for our couple, once a month. It spices up our relationship, it keeps romance going, it creates connection. At the start of every month, we know something special will happen!”.
Who’s turn is it? Doesn’t matter. Some couples take turns, some go with whoever gets to it first… The essence is: keep it fun and light. Sometimes these moments will be bucket list events. Sometimes they will be rather “mundane” and less than stellar. More important is: form a new habit, and stick to it.
“And best of all, come December, we’ll be looking at 12 magic memories throughout the year. With pictures and all. It does wonders to our couple!”
Hasn’t it happened to all of us? Come year end, and we wonder how on earth the year has flown by. Oh sure, we’ve paid the bills and taken the garbage out. Regularly. But … wasn’t life supposed to be more than that?
Monthly Surprise Challenge… does it require thought and preparation? Sure it does! But isn’t that part of the game? Becoming more intentional about our couple, about the person we love, and make a game out of it… It’s easier than we think. Really.
Join the Monthly Surprise Challenge (MSC). Once a month, it’s doable. And it’s fun! A number of couples throughout Europe and in the US have joined already. Let us know in which part of the world you live, and send us your MSC ideas and pictures, if you feel like it. We’ll be delighted to share them on this website!
Look who already has joined the challenge
Noviembre del año pasado, en una cena informal en Boston. Con una copa de vino, nuestros amigos compartieron su nuevo hábito. ¡Y de pronto, se nos encendió la lucecita!
“Una vez al mes, uno de nosotros sorprende al otro. Con algo que estamos bastante seguros será del agrado de nuestro/a compañero/a ".
Un fin de semana sin los niños, un tratamiento de belleza, una cena en ese lugar que siempre le gustó, el vuelo en globo aerostático con el que siempre soñó, cocinar su cena favorita, una fiesta sorpresa con sus mejores amigos, una clase de cóctel, un taller de baile, un poema o una carta de amor ... ¡Las posibilidades son infinitas!
“La idea es crear momentos mágicos para nuestra pareja, una vez al mes. Le da sabor a nuestra relación, mantiene el romance, crea conexión. ¡Al comienzo de cada mes, sabemos que sucederá algo especial! ”.
¿A quien le toca? No importa. Algunas parejas se turnan, en otras, será quien llegue primero ... La esencia es: que sea divertido y sencillo. A veces, estos momentos son los que están anotados en lista de “cosas por hacer”. A veces serán más bien "rutinarios" y para nada estelares. Lo más importante es: formar un nuevo hábito y mantenerlo.
"Y lo mejor de todo es que, en diciembre, podremos tener 12 recuerdos mágicos de un año entero. Con fotos y todo. ¡Qué bien le hace a nuestra pareja!
¿No nos ha pasado a todos? Cuando llega fin de año, nos preguntamos cómo diablos ha pasado tan rápido. Ah, claro, pagamos las facturas y sacamos la basura. Con regularidad. Pero ... ¿no se suponía que la vida era más que eso?
Desafío sorpresa mensual... ¿requiere reflexión y preparación? ¡Claro que si! ¿Pero no es eso parte del juego? Volverse más intencional sobre nuestra pareja, sobre la persona que amamos y jugar con eso ... Es más fácil de lo que pensamos. De verdad.
Únanse al desafío sorpresa mensual (MSC). Una vez al mes, es posible. ¡Y es divertido! Ya se han unido varias parejas de toda Europa y Estados Unidos. Hágannos saber en qué parte del mundo viven y envíennos sus ideas e imágenes de MSC, si lo desean. ¡Estaremos encantados de compartirlos en este sitio web!
Miren quiénes ya se han unido al desafío
Coronavirus – a term we were hardly aware of a few months ago. It now dominates the media flow and our conversations. It is impacting our lives, we’re working from home, we’re not or hardly going out anymore. And our thoughts go to the many people impacted by this terrible epidemic. A time of uncertainties, anxieties. An unusual time also for relationships. For many of us, all of a sudden, this means spending significantly more time, and within a confined space, with loved ones we hardly used to see during the week. And voilà, things come to surface. No place to avoid, no space to evade. For some of us, this means noticing how we have become good at texting but lost the art of talking. We have become good at litigating but lost the art of listening. We have become good at spending money, but lost the art of spending time together. We realize, often painfully, how our most important relationships have become shallow, routine, mediocre. And so, the news tell us that split ups and divorces are on the rise… But what if instead? Now that we have time… What if this were an opportunity to take stock of our most important relationship? What if this were an opportunity to reconnect, at a deeper level, with the person we love most? The time will come when life gets back to “normal”. Where do we want our most important relationship to be at that time? Will we have thrown in the towel? Or will we have managed to survive coronavirus? Or – maybe – will we have taken advantage of this time together, a hidden gem really, and come out stronger than ever from these weeks and months? The choice is ours. And the choice is now. Let’s seize the opportunity!
“I’m going crazy working from home!” Tom said, sharing his frustration with the shelter in place mandate.
