Tips for a Long Lasting Marriage

When we get married we assume that we will be married to our spouse for the rest of our lives. With the ease and amount of divorces, it's obvious that marriage doesn't always work the way we think it should. It can be the way we think it should. It is possible to have a long lasting marriage.

Don't go into a marriage thinking it isn't or shouldn't be work; anything worth having takes work. Your marriage is no different. You'll need to have a stiff upper lip, determination, and perhaps a little bit of stubbornness to make your marriage last your lifetime.

Communicate with your partner is so important. Neither you nor your spouse are mind readers, you have to communicate your feelings, needs, fears, and expectations. Your spouse will not be able to guess what is going on, tell them. You will save a lot of time, annoyance, irritation, and possible bitterness.

Accept your spouse for the person they are, the person you fell in love with. You want to be accepted for who you are; every human being wants to be accepted. Why waste time on trying to change someone? It's a pointless battle, when you love someone, it includes tolerating the parts of him or her that may be annoying. Remember the way you and your spouse were in the beginning of your relationship, especially when things are rough. Everyone needs something to fight for. The beginning is a good reminder of what you are fighting for.

Always focus on the good things about your spouse and your marriage. The things that are seemingly wrong can be fixed, and they just don't seem so bad next to the things that are right.

You need to trust and rely on your partner, as your partner needs to be able to trust and rely on you. You need to remember that a marriage is a team. You are there when your spouse needs you, and your spouse is there when you need them, trusting that you will always be available for each other when things get rough.

Don't focus on the little irritating habits. When my husband and I were engaged I had someone tell me that about every three years or so your marriage will go through a rough patch. This will be because of so much time spent together and irritating habits. That is so true. There are times when by the time my husband gets home I'm already mad at him, because I will know exactly what he's going to say, so I will stew, then when it actually comes out of his mouth I explode. That brings us to my final tip. Notice the signs that you need sometime alone. Spending all of your time with your spouse will get you irritated over small things. When this starts happening, go do something by yourself. If you happen to be in an argument, put yourself in time out, that way you don't say anything you will regret

In this day in age, I don't think we are taught how hard marriage is. We are brought up seeing all the good and rarely see the bad. If you are willing to do the work, you can have a wonderful long lasting marriage.