Like the majority of couples, people come into marriage completely unprepared for how to navigate their relationship. Yes, you love each other, but you keep getting stuck and fall into the same habitual patterns, over and over again, often, simply because of a lack of the right skills and attitudes. Most often, when we struggle in our relationships, and don’t know what to do, we usually keep it to ourselves and hope it will improve on its own.
In addition to attraction, friendship, selfawareness, emotional fitness, relationship skills and effective communication are essential ingredients for a lasting, loving marriage to avoid the unnecessary drama that puts relationships at risk.
All marriages go through predictable phases. According to marriage researcher and therapist John Gottman, couples wait an average of six years before they reach out for help, and the highest rate of divorce is year three. Couples believe that they should be able to “figure it out”, or that by ignoring their problems, they will just go away. What actually happens is that the little issues get bigger and harder to sort out, and both partners suffer unnecessarily.
