Dating and marriage is different from how it was twenty years ago.
In today’s society, more than 50% of all marriages fail for one reason or another. Just thinking about that makes “commitment” seem scary.
It seems that nowadays, when relationships are faced with challenges, people quit trying.
Dating has become more of a marathon, with participants trying to date as many people as possible, instead of taking the time to get to know someone at a deeper level.
For married couples, divorce is more prevalent – whether you’ve been married for thirty years or eight months, the outcome can be the same.
The fact is that relationships, whether dating or married, are hard. Things do not always go perfectly, fighting does occur, and it takes a 100% commitment from both parties to make it a success.
Often when people break off a relationship, they do so because they feel as though something is missing. The “spark” has gone, leaving one or both people feeling inadequate and unfulfilled.
However, even though the odds may not be very good, healthy, and long-lasting relationships are definitely possible. Look at Paul Newman and Joanne Woodard, Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman, or Nancy and Ronald Regan.
What are their secrets?
The answer is simply that they all work hard at their relationships. At some stage they made a decision to choose to love their mate rather than to be critical of them. By making love a choice you are making the decision that, even in the bad times, you will stick it out.
It’s a bit like choosing a car. You pick out the make, model, year, color and features you believe are best for you. After driving your car for a couple of months, you realize that perhaps you should have purchased a larger car, or that maybe the leather seats would have been better or, on hot sunny days, the sunroof would have been nice. However, it is now too late, you’ve made your purchase so you choose to keep your car and make it work.
It is the same for marriage and dating.
Not everything will be perfect and there may even be major obstacles to overcome, but you have made your decision and now you choose to make it work.
There are hundreds of things you can do to improve your relationship. To help get you headed in the right direction, we have come up with 101 ways to build, strengthen, and enhance your relationship.
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