If you've been married 10+ years, and you consider your marriage a "success," you have valuable experience that many people, myself included, are looking for.
What is a "successful" marriage? We can use responses to this thread to help define that term. The definition will probably vary greatly amongst different people. For me, here are some of the qualities I consider successful in marriage:
- Being "in love" with my partner still
- Treating my partner with dignity and respect
- Encountering difficulties and challenges, and getting through them
- Being a compliment to each other
- Accepting my partner's shortcomings or qualities that I don't like
- Being a positive force in my partner's life
- Having a very high level of trust
- Maintaining a good sex life
- Parenting success
- Good communication
If you know yours is a success, start a new thread and tell us your story.
- Why do you define your marriage a success?
- What difficulties have you had, and how have you gotten through them?
- What are some of the key concepts that have helped your marriage work over time?
- How do you and your partner treat each other?
- How much "in love" are you and your partner compared to when you first met?
- How is your sex life with your partner?
- If you have children, how did having and raising children affect your marriage?
My hope is that over time, this section of the forums will turn into a library of successful stories that we can all use to make our relationships more successful.