Happy 27th anniversary! 9 lessons Barack & Michelle Obama have taught us about love

The former POTUS and FLOTUS are pretty much the paradigm of #marriagegoals. And yesterday (3 Oct), they celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary.

Both posted photos on social media, along with the sweetest captions dedicated to their other half.

Michelle Obama went with a touching message together with a photo that shows two standing on a porch looking out onto a marina.

While Barack captioned a picture of the pair gazing at the sunset with a quote from the Beatles' song Getting Better.

Initially assigned together at a law firm, they dated for a few years before getting engaged, and tied the knot on October 3, 1992. They have two daughters: Malia, 21 and Sasha, 18.

Below, we've gathered nuggets of relationship wisdom from the inspiring duo that we think every couple should read.

MARRIAGE IS A CHOICE

"Marriage is a choice you make every day," Michelle shared in a  keynote conversation with CBS anchor Gayle King in July. 

"You don't do it because it's easy. You do it because you believe in it. You believe in the other person."

MARRY SOMEONE YOU RESPECT

In the same interview, the Becoming author added "And ladies and gentleman, that's why it's so important to marry somebody that you respect.

It's important to marry somebody who is your equal, and to marry somebody and to be with somebody who wants you to win as much as you want them to win."

MARRY SOMEONE YOU FIND INTERESTING

Barack Obama had offered his insights on marriage to Dan Pfeiffer, his former communications director, who in turn included it in his new book, Yes We Still Can: Policitics in the Age of Obama, Twitter and Trump.

"Here's the advice I give everyone about marriage - is she someone you find interesting?

You will spend more time with this person than anyone else for the rest of your life, and there is nothing more important than always wanting to hear what she has to say about things," he notes. 

SET ASIDE COUPLE TIME

In an interview with People last year, Michelle Obama said, "We are finding each other again. We have dinners alone and chunks of time where it's just us - what we were when we started this thing: no kids, no publicity, no nothing. Just us and our dreams."

CONSIDER (AND REALLY CONSIDER) MARRIAGE COUNSELLING

Even a couple with a strong marriage like the Obamas head to the counsellor's office. She opened up a little about the experience on the Jimmy Fallon show last year.

"Marriage is hard, even for us," she admitted. "We have a great relationship, but the thing about marriage counseling is like I was one of those wives who thought, 'I'm taking you to marriage counseling so you can be fixed, Barack Obama,' because I was like, 'I'm perfect.'

I was like, 'Dr. X, please fix him,' and then our counselor looked over at me and I was like, 'What are you looking at? I'm perfect.'"

But she also went on to sing the experience's praises.

"Marriage counseling was a turning point for me understanding that it wasn't up to my husband to make me happy-that I had to learn how to fill myself up and have to put myself higher on my priority list," the former First Lady added.

INJECT HUMOUR INTO YOUR RELATIONSHIP

"I think in our house we don't take ourselves too seriously, and laughter is the best form of unity, I think, in a marriage.

So we still find ways to have fun together, and a lot of it is private and personal. But we keep each other smiling and that's good." - Michelle Obama

IT'S IN THE LITTLE THINGS

"When the kids go to bed and Barack's done a little reading, we're usually curled up in our den, and we'll watch a show together. Or we'll talk and catch up. it's nothing major, but that's what marriage is about.

Not the big, splashy stuff. It's just the little day-to-day sharing and routines and rituals that we still have." - Michelle Obama

BUT ALSO DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

I kind of give him a pass now when he leaves his socks on the floor or tells that story for the one hundredth time and wants us to laugh about it as if we first heard it." - Michelle Obama on The Ellen Denegeres Show.

TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK

Gender equality starts at home for the power couple. 

Talking to Vogue, Barack said, "It's not as if Michelle is thinking in terms of, 'How do I cater to my husband?'

I think it's much more, 'We're a team, and how do I make sure that this guy is together enough that he's paying attention to his girls and not forgetting the basketball game that he's supposed to be going to on Sunday?'" 

This article was first published in Her World Online.