Seven Opportunities

Would you like a happier marriage? If so, then you have a choice to make.

In fact, you have seven choices to make.

According to studies, couples disagree almost 2,500 times per year, which averages out to seven times a day. That’s seven opportunities every day to drive your relationship further apart. Or to draw it closer together. Which one depends on you. Literally. You get to choose.

You see, a lot of couples fall prey to the myth that their conflict is the result of their differences. It’s not. It’s the result of how they handle those differences.

Unhealthy couples put individual goals above the health and well-being of the relationship. They dismiss their partner’s feelings and seek after “me” and “mine.” Happy couples, on the other hand, work together as a team. They put “we” before “me,” and they choose what’s best for the relationship even when it means denying themselves.

When it’s all said and done, a good marriage is about good choices. Even though romantic attraction is described as “falling in love,” a love that endures is no accident. It must be nurtured. That requires selflessness, sacrifice, and the pursuit of unity in every situation possible. It’s not enough to decide one time on your wedding day that you’ll love your spouse “for better or for worse, until death do we part.” It’s a choice you make every day, several times a day.