How to Stay Happily Married – A Survey

Here we go!

Marry someone you really like, not just who you are infatuated with. Marry someone you really trust.

Never renovate a house together, especially a kitchen.

Don’t ever cheat on each other. It’s too hard to win trust back. 

Have the same values. When hardships hit the fan, if you have the same values, you’ll make the right decisions together.

Don’t marry, period.

My wife is first in my life. Not the kids. I make sure she knows she’s number one. That way she feels secure, and the marriage will last. Without a strong marriage, the kids have nothing. Raising kids is very demanding. It’s too easy to let everything else go.

When your wife is right, she’s right. And when she’s wrong, she’s right. Never correct your wife.

Have lots of things in common to do together. It’s too lonely if you are doing the majority of your stuff apart and it’s too tempting. Show an interest in your mate’s hobbies and take them up, too.

Find new hobbies together. Have fun together. Lighten up. Laugh together. Be playful and even silly sometimes. 

Don’t be separated for long periods of time. Then, you grow apart.

Give ten hugs a day. (She’s a therapist)

Don’t want to be divorced at the same time.

Have similar goals that the whole family works for. Work together on household chores even when you’re not asked.

Say I love you often throughout the day. Be romantic. Take little gifts as a surprise.

Choose someone from a similar background.

Be kind and considerate with your words. Pray for each other and together. Put God at the center of your marriage.

Put the other one first. Communicate. Be forgiving. Don’t hold grudges. Don’t be too sensitive to criticism. Don’t criticize. What’s done is done.

Complement each other. Help each other in times of need.

Foster a friendship filled with respect for each other. Being in love comes and goes throughout the years. But love, respect and friendship is the glue that bonds the marriage together.

Enjoy each other’s friends. Cultivate new friendships with other couples. Invite them over. Make time for your single friends, too.

Make every effort to like your in-laws and your spouse’s relatives. Take the initiative to invite them over. Go see them. Never talk behind each other’s backs. If you expect your relatives to like your spouse, they won’t if you’ve torn him or her apart behind their back.

Just have a really good time together. Life is too short. (Spoken by a widow).

Be available for intimacy for your mate. Think about what he/she wants, not just what you want.

Keep yourself up. My wife of 50 years always cleans herself up just before I come home. She makes a big deal of it when I come in the door. I really appreciate that.

Never wallpaper together.

Work as hard at your marriage as you do at your job. If each of you puts in 110%, always thinking of the other, you’ll be very happy.

Men are very simple. Women think men are complicated. All I need, as a husband, is a calm household when I come home, and respect. I think women are very intelligent. A woman should let her man feel like he is getting his way. Women know how.

Don’t play the victim role. Poor me. You have to make choices if you don’t like something or feel you’re being treated unfairly, speak up.

Love is what you do. It is a verb, not just a noun. In the movies it’s a noun. In real life it’s a verb. Something you do. That means that you go home and express love even when you don’t feel loving and even if you’re mad. The response you get generates even more love.