A Healthy Marriage Has These Key Ingredients

A Healthy Marriage Has These Ingredients

Couples get married every day.  Couples get divorced every day as well.  Of all the things a man and woman can decide to do, marriage is perhaps one of the most difficult.  Wait a minute! Getting married is easy.  It’s a successful and happy marriage that’s difficult to achieve.  

Almost half the people who decide to get married will find themselves facing a divorce within five years or less.  Although these statistics are alarming, it’s good to note that the divorce rate has declined in the last few years or at least remained stable.  One of the main reasons for this however is couples have spurned traditional marriage and elected to live together.  

Living together, whether married or not, can be one of the best or worst things you’ve ever done.  You enter into the sanctity of marriage with high hopes of a blissful relationship and the dreams of a beautiful home and family.  For many this has become true, but for many others reality set in and they found it too difficult to continue.

What makes the difference in the success and failure of a marriage?  The reasons are as many as they are varied.  But, most successful marriages seem to embrace a few key ingredients.  

Both must be committed to a making the relationship work.  Commitment is a scary word and many people run from the thought of a serious commitment.  It conjures thoughts of a ball and chain, a nagging spouse and mounting bills that wait to be paid.  But, if you’re to have growth and accomplishments in a marriage, both must be committed to the same values and goals.

You’ve heard it before but you must be able to communicate.  It is so important to communicate that it bears repeating.  This means not only talking about the happenings of the day at home and work but also sharing private thoughts and feelings.  This is crucial for both husband and wife even if it’s hard to do at first.  It will become something both of you look forward to if given the chance.

Strive to meet each other’s needs both emotional and physical.  You must desire to take care of one another in every way.  It should be a pleasure and not a chore.  Treat your spouse as a friend as well as a lover and provider.  Appreciate, admire and respect each other and you’ll find petty annoyances no problem at all.

Maintain a good balance of leisure, work and pleasure.  Set common goals and work toward them.  Dream together and strive to make those dreams come true.  When a decision has to be made, do it together.  Respect each other’s opinion and seek their help and advice.

Laugh with your spouse and not at your spouse.  A sense of humor is a must if your marriage is to survive the pitfalls and setbacks all marriages endure.  Ingredients of a good marriage are like the ingredients of a good recipe.  Once you’ve found it, nothing could be better.

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