Marriage is not easy, and anyone who says it is, well, they’re a liar, or at the very least delusional. I mean, imagine it. You come from two different places, with a series of experiences that have shaped you individually, with a wealth of preconceptions and idiosyncrasies that don’t just go away. Instead, you come into a marriage ready to compromise, prepared to give up or modify some of the things that won’t mesh with the other person and what they bring into the union on the other side.
I can’t stand it when people say that marriage is two halves making a whole. It’s really two wholes compromising in order to make something bigger than their individual selves, a third whole that consists of both always striving. It’s in this striving that marriage truly lives and grows, this constant growth together, like vines intertwining but never choking each other out. I love that view of marriage because it’s realistic, not this pie in the sky envisioning of everything being perfect from here on out.
Because it’s not going to be perfect. Nothing ever is. Perfection is a construct that assumes no human interference. But we are humans, which means we are not perfect, so if we can’t be perfect individually how can a union between two of us ever be perfect?
“We’re not perfect but we’re devoted.”
That’s the crux of a good, solid marriage, being devoted to each other and to what you’re building together. Marriages fall apart when we lose sight of that as a daily goal. It’s not something you look at beginning the year and say you’ll hit it by year’s end. It’s a never ending challenge that both of you need to be committed to in order to make it work, in order to make it last.
I’ve been married for 13 years, and it’s true even more now than it was back in 2003. The times when we’ve been most distant, when we’ve had the most friction, have been the times when one or both of us let things go, when we didn’t communicate, when we lost the thread that we had been sewing together for so long. It was in those times that we grew frustrated with each other, and things began to spiral. But every single time we caught ourselves before everything disintegrated. That’s the key.
We’ve learned over the years that the old adage about never going to bed angry is a good one, that talking about things, no matter how difficult, is always the best way to go about anything and everything. And today, on our 13th anniversary, I can honestly say that our relationship is stronger than it has ever been.
Not because we’re the perfect couple, but because we work hard at this relationship thing. And it pays off.
Sam
Sam's Online Journal 
This was an excellent piece! Dispels age-old myths and perceptions of marriage from a new, thought-provoking aspect. Very nice!
Thank you very much!
Anytime! Will definitely check back for more great reads!
You have tons of knowledge and it is great to see you share it with the rest of us. Sometimes the words of a stranger are the best advice. I have only been married for 6 years, and I agree with everything you said. Your perspective has helped me to understand some things that I never understood about marriage. Thanks for this informative post, and I hope you and your wife had a happy anniversary!
Thank you for your kind words. I’ve always thought about the bigger picture, how things work in the real world, not in the idealized world we like to think we live in, and I go from there. I’m so happy that I’ve been able to connect with you on this.