Married Life

Things you didn't know: Married life

I just read the information at the above link, and I thought it was interesting and pertinent to my own life.  I know about marriage, having been married twice for a combined total of 10 years.  I have experienced being married too young, divorce, and marrying again.  I have some personal input for the statistics reported on that site. 

Marrying younger than 25 drastically increases the risk for divorce. I believe it, especially in today's society.  Sometimes teenagers get married right out of high school, or sometimes people meet in their early 20s before they've really had a chance to spread their wings.  It doesn't take long for the novelty and the feeling of "playing house" to wear off.  There must be a solid foundation and real commitment for the couple to stay married.  Here's an example: I was married at age 20 and divorced at 24.  I firmly believe that that marriage was built on a rocky foundation, and never shored up.  We just weren't ready for marriage, and so it didn't work out.  Looking back, those 4 years are my biggest regret, because I should have spent that time going to college or experiencing life on my own.  I view it as time wasted, but also a lesson learned.

The most successful marriages are between the older sister of brothers and the younger brother of sisters; the least are with only children.  This is a very cool factoid to me, because I am the older sister of a brother and my husband is the younger brother of a sister.  I wonder why this is true, though: Are the older sisters better wives because they grew up managing younger brothers?  Are the younger brothers better husbands because they grew up being managed?  I think maybe it's because the younger brother learns to respect women and communicate with them.

No sex in a marriage has a much more powerful negative impact on a marriage than good sex has a positive impact.  This is completely true.  We all want to feel loved and desired, and expressing that love in the most natural way positively reinforces the bond we have with our mate.  When no love is expressed, we begin to feel lonely in the relationship.