It has become a growing concern of mine, that the depletion of marriages and families has become an ever-growing trend today. Being a family science major, I hear statistics on a daily basis about divorce and unhappy marriages. It has come to my attention that statistics are now showing 86 percent of couples in an unhappy marriage that are looking at divorce are perfectly happy in that same marriage five years down the road. Of those people who do get divorced, 40 percent claim to regret their decision.
So why then are people still rushing to get those divorce papers in? Aside from those necessary divorces spawning from extreme situations such as abuse or addictions, I believe couples come to a crossroad in their marriage, refuse to focus on the solution rather than the problem, and just quit because they fail to "change" their partner. The first and only step to changing another person is in changing your own attitude and behavior. You chose that person for whom you married and you committed to your partner within the vows of marriage, to love, cherish and honor them for "as long as you both shall live" or for "time and all eternity," not "until I don't feel like putting forth the effort anymore."
I just hope that for the future of marriage and for the future of our children that we as married couples remember those vows that we committed to our partner and actually stick with them. For those of you who are considering divorce, please check out www.marriagecrossroads.org and learn more how to deal with those problems you are facing.
Juliana L. Radmacher
Provo