Tag Archives: happily ever after

Are You the Biggest Problem in Your Relationship’s Difficulties?

There’s a local news show in Nashville called Tennessee Mornings. Normally I watch Today during breakfast, but yesterday while a commercial was running I flipped channels. Which proved fortuitous because I flipped right when they were interviewing Joe Beam, a relationship expert. Apparently he has a national talk show called Give & Take with Joe Beam. I didn’t catch the entire interview, but from the bit I did catch I immediately discerned a couple of things. One, Mr. Beam has an incredibly friendly and warm style. Two, he’s also ultra sensible and direct in his views. But he’s not abrasive … Continue reading →

Who Takes Care of Business?

Being a follower or a leader has very little to do with being male or female or with age. Some people are just born controllers while others are born watchers. In many cases younger siblings will more easily handle issues and take care of older siblings. One may have a more out going personality and feel more comfortable addressing others. The same goes for marriages. One person is usually better at taking care of business and handling problems and issues. The other person may have input and opinions, but there is typically one person that has more initiative and brass. … Continue reading →

When Did You Know He (or She) Was “The One”?

Do you believe in love at first sight? I believe in initial attraction, but I do not believe that real love can be based merely on sight. Still, there is something to be said for intuition, and sometimes, it just takes over. Did you know early on that your spouse was the person you wanted to marry? I’m not talking about infatuation but a deeper sense of connection and a feeling that he or she was the person you had been waiting for. Did you know right away that the two of you were meant to be together or did … Continue reading →

10 Things You Find In a Happy Marriage

When it comes to a happy marriage, we all want one and we all want to find the secret ingredient, the secret steps, and the secret to making our marriage a happy one. There are many times that we describe our marriages like a garden. We use this analogy because we know that if we don’t tend to our gardens, they will not wither and die. They will become overrun with weeds and they will not be what we want them to be. So we know what we’re looking for in a well-tended garden, but do we know what we’re … Continue reading →

50% of Marriages Do Not End in Divorce

I thought that headline might get your attention. Far too often we focus on the negative report of statistics that indicate relationships won’t succeed and that marriages end in divorce. I remember when I was growing up; I would wonder why people bothered to get married. I remember watching some wedding ceremony on a soap opera and finding it rather boring. Why boring? Because on a soap opera there really is no such thing as happily ever after and a couple may get married but they will likely divorce in a year or two and that divorce will either be … Continue reading →

Marriage News: Strange, But True

I know that I’ve seen just about all the crazy things out there on the web that might be seen. So this morning as I’m going through my morning mail and scanning my news feeds to see what’s going on in the world out there I came across a glib one-liner about a great website that all engaged couples should visit in order to weigh their odds against the future success of their upcoming marriage. The site is called WeddingBetter.com. The site invites visitors to bet on how quickly a couple will divorce based on a photograph and a paragraph … Continue reading →

Marriage Tips: Saturday Morning Wake-Up Call

Iris Krasnow wrote in her book Surrendering to Your Marriage that you can have sex and frolic and enjoy a great time and wake up in the morning to still be married to an idiot. While I think that is one of the most succinct pieces of advice I’ve ever read, it’s actually frighteningly accurate too. The problem with marriage is that we all get caught up in the hype. You spend so much time embracing the false expectations and marriage myths that you lose yourself in the idea that you have to have a perfect marriage. What you end … Continue reading →

By Juno! Happily Ever After & Going Strong

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We talk a lot about that 50% of marriages will end in divorce and no matter what two digits you put in front of the % sign – it’s still going to be a lot. But rarely do we talk about the digits that come in front of the other percent – you know the percent of marriages that do not end in divorce? If 50% of first marriages end in divorce — then 50% of all first marriages don’t end in divorce. What About This Other 50%? In a recent article I read in an online British paper – … Continue reading →

Myths About Marriage

Do you like to watch late night television? Do you like to listen to love songs? Do you enjoy classic films? Do you love to read romance novels? I am not ashamed to admit that I love to do all of these things and just like watching a Disney production of Cinderella and seeing the …happily ever after, we are binging on an image of marriage that likely never was. Shows like Ozzie and Harriet, Bewitched, and The Donna Reed Show showed us families that consisted of mom and dad. They showed us that they didn’t have real problems like … Continue reading →

Positive Expectations

What are your expectations of your spouse? What are your expectations of yourself? Have you ever noticed that when you expect the worst, that’s usually what happens? Have you ever found that people live up to your expectations? Not too long ago in this blog the importance of assuming good intentions. Hand in hand with assuming good intentions is stressing positive expectations. Assuming Good Intentions When you assume good intentions, you are less likely to think someone (your partner or spouse specifically) is doing anything to you out of malice. Instead, by assuming good intentions, you can rightfully believe they … Continue reading →