Just beginning a journey of a lifetime, not knowing what is in store for the couple or the family they may create. One may think their love is invincible and can weather any storm. Their heart is in the right place and it is believed that love will prevail. This is true for some but not for all.

What is the difference between a successful and a failed marriage? The circumstances will be as different as each person is unique. Could it be one’s capacity to forgive and how much it is able to stretch to contain all that is necessary over a lifetime? Emotional maturity is connected closely to this ability to forgive. How one grieves emotional pain is a challenging part of this delicate package. Many kinds of losses may be experienced and each needs to be grieved accordingly.

Humans are a bundle of emotions and it is hard to understand how they will be manifested from time to time. Shakespeare in Hamlet said, “this above all, to thine own self be true” and the Bible says, the heart is desperately wicked, who can know?” How well can a person know themselves? This self-knowledge may fluctuate from time to time as a person learns from their mistakes and wrong doings.

Love drives us to take risks and the strong belief that there will be joy along the way makes love worth the risk. The Carpenters sang about this in their song, “We’ve Only Just begun”. Here it is on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__VQX2Xn7tI