Let’s face it—conflict is part of every relationship. No matter how much love there is, sooner or later, disagreements show up at the door. What matters most isn’t whether we argue, but how we handle those moments when emotions run high and words can either build a bridge or burn it down. Over the years,
“The best thing to hold onto in life is each other” — Audrey Hepburn When we talk about making relationships last, we’re really asking a deeper question—how do we help love endure? It’s not about just staying together under one roof or marking anniversaries on a calendar. It’s about keeping that emotional bond alive through
2025 has been quite a year and we are only halfway through it. We lost our home in the Palisades fires and then the whole world caught fire. Wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, and Israel, mass shootings and our president is pressing his authority like never before. There seems to be nowhere to turn in
I was married 33 years ago, and they threw shoes and rice. My wife was beautiful, and we were in love. We have made a relationship that has stood the test of time, and we were able to understand our dance and build a healthy, loving future. But we had yet to learn what life would
Disaster doesn’t knock before it enters your life—it arrives uninvited, turning everything familiar into something unrecognizable. One moment, you’re stepping out the door like you have for years, and the next, life as you know it is gone. That’s exactly what happened to me. It was a typical sunny morning in California. I headed to
“Only connect,” wrote E. M. Forster in Howards End,“and human love will be seen at its height.” Love depends on a couple’s ability to forge and then maintain the precious bond between them. We want to look more closely at ways of creating connection, preserving it through challenging times, and healing breaks when they occur.
There are some general rules for relationship health that if you follow them your happiness level should improve tremendously. 1. Compassion, understanding, respect and empathy are essential. Avoid: Criticism or contempt. Also avoid: 2. Blaming or shaming. 3. Defensiveness. 4. Negativity. 5. Stonewalling or turning away. 6. Being the victim or the perp. 7. Fight
Marriage is simply hard work. But the good news is that attitude is everything. The Toltec Empire lasted from 300 to 600 BC and included the Pacific Coastal Chiapas and Guatemala, the Yucatan Peninsula, and much of Northern and Western Mexico. They left clay tablets with a message they called “The Four Agreements.” They were:
To be happy together, we need to build and maintain loving connections with our partner. The stronger these connections are, the more lasting our love will be. Love and romance are nurtured as much by small, everyday things as by grand gestures—and sometimes more so. A patient recently explained to me that he had taken
We pan in on a newly married couple gazing lovingly at each other on the dance floor dressed in white and aglow with happiness and sweet expectation for a life together. They read their vows professing love sublime with misty-eyed friends and family looking on. It’s a happy time for all, maybe one of the