A little while ago I got into a conversation with a work colleague and it came up that Melina and I were writing a book on marriage.  He wished us success and complimented us on following through with our plans to actually write it, and then he asked me the following question.  “What would you say are the top three most important things to having a marriage that lasts?”  The question caught me by surprise,

Marriage is hard work.  There is just no getting around that fact.  If that wasn’t the case there wouldn’t be the staggeringly high divorce rates we see.  There is no 10 step formula that will guarantee marriage success, no “how to stay happily married with these 3 steps”. It’s natural for people to gravitate to the quick fix (know anyone who’s ever bought the latest fitness gizmo that’s on late night TV infomercials?).  However in

In Stephen Covey’s highly acclaimed and successful book, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, he outlined the first two Habits of success as follows: Be Proactive Begin With The End In Mind With regards to our marriages most of us don’t usually put a lot of thought or “vision” into the kind of marriage relationship we want.  We fall in love, get married and go about the business of life and sort of just

That’s a blunt question every couple should ask themselves, but many avoid. The power of association is one of the strongest influences on our character and behavior. Have you ever warned your kids not to hang around with a particular person because they were a bad influence? As the old saying goes, “If you lie down with dogs you’re going to get fleas.” You may even find yourself living in the doghouse. Whether we’re aware