RELATIONSHIPS | LOVE | LIFE | SELF | SELF IMPROVEMENT
Marriage Vows — In Fitness and In Health
The beauty of marriage in your 20s and 30s transforms itself in your 50s and beyond.
Traditional vs. Contemporary Marriage Vows
“I, _____, take you, _____, for my lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.”
Surprise! According to the American Psychological Association, couples marrying for the first time in the United States, have approximately a fifty percent (50%) chance of divorcing.
Think about that — almost half of all those marriages are not going to survive to the “happily ever after” stage.
Some of us would rather seek out a divorce attorney rather than attend couples counseling sessions with a marriage therapist. Apparently, we aren’t willing to work as hard at saving our marriage as we did while we courted our spouses.
There are a variety of reasons for this outcome. Surveys by Insider.com, The Huffington Post, Forbes, and the NCBI found a diversity of reasons for couples to initiate the divorce process. Here are the top five:
- Lack of commitment (75%)
- Infidelity / relationships outside of the marriage (59.6%)
- Conflict, fighting, irreconcilable differences (57.7%)
- Marrying too young (45.1%)
- Money issues / debt (36.1%)
Other causes with double-digit impact on our marriages include:
- Substance abuse / alcohol addiction (34.6%)
- Domestic violence (23.5%)
- Health problems, mental illness (18.2%)
- Lack of support from family (17.3%)
- Religious differences/lack of marital education (13.3%)
