Once you and your partner have decided to be a couple officially, you both need to do a
couple of things. One, take a look at what it was that brought the two of you together. What attracted you to each other?

And I don’t mean simply looks.

Beauty and looks eventually fade and a relationship based solely on “looks and sex” will, without a doubt, hit a very rocky road.

You want to examine mutual interests, similar goals or mutual purposes. Look at what you
admire about your partner. Look these things over and work together to strengthen them.

These days there is no shortage of marriage advice being “sold.” How do you choose the best course of action?

First and foremost, communication is the tool that must be used. And in our “pop a pill”, “try to forget” society, we often overlook the fact that you sometimes have to work at something to make it better.

In a troubled marriage you can’t wish it away. You have to work at it. Whatever you do to get the ball rolling you need to get the dialogue started. Maybe a night out, a walk around the block, maybe just a cup of coffee at the dinner table. How you start isn’t important, it is that you start.

Being a supportive spouse is your job as a spouse. How else will you both make it through the stresses of our modern world?

I know there are many distractions and many temptations to pull you away and apart from your spouse. In fact you both may have very different interests and be involved in very different activities, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be supportive.

It is quite a task to take on complete and total support (responsibility) for another person.

Some of the most stressful times in a person’s life can be caused by Marital problems.

An unhappy home life does affect all other aspects of your life. It can creep into the workplace, into your relationships with your friends, it can even create negative effects in your community.

Marriage counseling is often looked upon as a last resort. And because the problems are of such a personal nature many times counseling is simply thought to be out of the question.

And with many “modern” therapies where  the therapist seems to take sides it hard to blame couples from doing all they can to avoid counseling.

I have assembled some quotes on the subject of marriage for you to peruse. There are some beautiful pearls of wisdom here. Enjoy!

Ann Landers:

All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making love. Good battle is objective and honest–never vicious or cruel. Good battle is healthy and constructive, and brings to a marriage the principle of equal partnership.

Ann Landers Says Truth Is Stranger…, 1968

Homer:

There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends.

My wife and I have been married now for 22 years. We have 3 kids and a great life together. In 22 years we have never had a fight, we do not argue and we do not tromp all over each other’s buttons.

There are those out there who do not believe me when I tell them this but it is true. I am very proud of this record and there is no reason why we will not grow old together in marital bliss as each other’s best
friend.

My advice to any newly wed is this: “It takes two people to fight or argue.”