Divorce Prevention

A third of all marriages end in divorce every year in the US. In some states, such as California, the divorce rate is as high as 50%, with some sources quoting it at a dizzying 75% of all marriages. Is marriage a dying social institution? That rather depends on how well a relationship is run in the first place. Here are five divorce prevention tips to help you stay on the right side of those statistics.

Divorce Prevention Tip 1. Make time for your spouse: Couples can significantly improve their married relationship by devoting at least 20-minutes of their time every day to their partner. This time should be exclusively theirs, without any form of interruption. This divorce prevention technique provides an ideal opportunity for both partners to communicate with each other, so creating a meaningful bond in the relationship. It also provides an avenue for each partner to fully express their feelings about each other and the relationship in general and help towards divorce prevention.

Divorce Prevention Tip 2. Regularly compliment your partner: One of the easiest divorce prevention techniques to adopt is to regularly compliment your spouse. This could be a verbal compliment such as a "you look lovely today", or it could be a written note, or even a hug of appreciation for him/her. These are the types of divorce prevention actions that provide the glue that bond two people together in marriage.

Divorce Prevention Tip 3. Love your spouse by his/her rules: Relationship difficulties quite often spring from misunderstandings and/or non-communication issues. You might think that your spouse will appreciate a gift that you like, but he/she might not see it the same way and wish you had not bothered. Your partner may take it as a sign that you do not understand his/her needs, while you may feel that he/she does not appreciate your sentiments. The result is friction in the relationship, which could quite easily boil over into a needless argument…possibly taking you one step closer to a divorce! Play by your spouse's rules when it comes to love and you'll be well on the way towards divorce prevention.

Divorce Prevention Tip 4. Look your best! Lust in married relationships is always there, but some married couples struggle to keep hold of it, and can often fall out of lust with their partner, perhaps after as little as a few months of married life. An invaluable divorce prevention method is to keep that lust alive. Look your best for your partner as often as you can. Dress well, eat well and exercise; these will incorporate towards subsequent divorce prevention. If you remind your partner of how attractive you are, then you'll rekindle the lust that you first experienced when your relationship began.

Divorce Prevention Tip 5. Be faithful: Remembering your wedding vows and remaining faithful to your partner, no matter what, is another top divorce prevention tip. In a 1998 study conducted by Dr. Finnegan Alford-Cooper, in which 576 couples who had intact marriages after 50 years were interviewed, a whopping 95% said that being faithful was integral to the long-term survival of their marriage. Keep this in mind and your marriage stands a better chance in divorce prevention than most.

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