Should I Get Married?

When you’re surrounded by a sea or wounded people going through divorce, destroying families and creating chaos between two people and their people sending shock waves of decimation throughout the community, it’s no wonder you asking yourself, “Should I get married?”

Marriage builds stronger relationships between two people than two people who are not married. It’s not that unmarried couples cannot thrive together for the long haul, but statistics prove that married couples are 50% more likely to survive a long term commitment.

So as much as our society is resisting the idea that marriage is a good thing, or is leaning toward the belief that marriage is “just a piece of paper,” couples who are married experience greater degrees of happiness, stronger family units, greater health, wellness and longevity.

In this day and age, many people are resistant to the idea of marriage because they see the many people they have known who were married and witnessed the destruction of these lives affecting friends and family members as the legal system strives to make the struggle for survival after divorce even more difficult.

While the institution of marriage (I know, I can hear the hecklers in the background, “Why would I want to commit myself to an institution?”) does demonstrate a good chance of success, the devastating effect of the divorce process gets far more publicity via social exposure, and many more people than those involved can be shocked or hurt by the mere thought of whatever might possibly be a fearful conclusion that no one would sing up to endure.

Who could blame them? Most everyone has been within earshot of, if not directly affected by, the down and dirty effects of divorce on families across the board in America today. And the legal institutions that back up the divorce process are all tools available to an unscrupulous parent or child to make matters even worse. The divorce process can be a painfully horrible experience to have to go through.

In my practice I serve both married and unmarried couples and from my experience the best, most long-lasting relationships are among the couples that are married. It’s as if that little “piece of paper” does give them that little extra incentive to put forth just enough more effort to get over the hump and realize whatever amazing thing is waiting for them on the other side of adversity.

Plus, in successful marriages, married couples have more stable states of mental health, and better physiological health and wellness. And (you might be surprised to discover) successful married couples suffer fewer heart attacks, are less likely to get Cancer, and live longer than their single or unmarried but coupled peers.

While the unmarried couples are more vocal about the benefits of not being married, the married couples do experience a higher quality of life. Oh, you hear about how sex outside of marriage is better than the sex that takes place in the marriage bed… What? Who are these people?

In my practice, I have spent a lot of time counseling with married couples, and as far as I can tell, in general, there is more sex happening more frequently between partners who are married (to each other) than their single or unmarried cohabitating peers. I also hear that married sex is better because of the potential of a much deeper connection that is possible between married couples sharing similar spiritual journeys. So, the idea that unmarried sex is better is a myth, as is the idea that unmarried sex, or swinging sex, is more frequent than married sex.

As a wedding officiant, I have married many couples and am somewhat disappointed at the survival rates of people whose weddings I’ve officiated. It’s pretty much the same as national statistics. To be honest about half of them end in divorce.

And divorce can be a low down and dirty business. While men get a bad rap when it comes to divorce, the women can be just as dastardly, if not more so, and are more emotionally equipped to survive the divorce process than a man, who is twice as likely to take his own life following a failed marriage.

By the way, any of the positive effects gained during the marriage are negated while emotional and biological health deteriorates rapidly during the divorce process.

So, the unmarried folks who put down marriage have a point, no doubt. Divorce is the downside of marriage, but the benefits of successful marriages far outweigh any other kind of relationship.

So, what do you think when you ask yourself,

Should I get married?

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