Marriage Advice

I recently conducted a survey amongst hundreds of married people and asked them the question below. The answers I got back are summarised below in the order of number of times they occurred. See if you agree! Feel free to email me with your comments.

If you could give only ONE piece of advice to a young couple just setting out in married life what would it be?

1. Children - Don't have kids until you are both truly ready for them.

2. Fun - Never stop having fun together, even after the kids come along.

3. Self-esteem - The most important thing to have is a healthy dose of self esteem so you do not need to marry to complete yourself or your life.

4. Acceptance - Marry the person for who they are; not who you want them to become.

5. Money - Don't think you can have it all in the first 5 years of marriage, buy what you can afford, and the rest will come in time.

6. Goals- I think if more people looked at marriage in a goal-orientated way - working together as life partners and all that - there would be less divorce.

7. Arguing - Don't go to bed mad at each other

8. Humour - Have a good sense of humor. Laughter can heal many hurts.

9. Commitment - Prior to marrying, consider the marria