Wuv, Twu Wuv

One of the greatest movies of all time is The Princess Bride. If you haven't seen it, stop everything and go watch it right now. One of my favorite scenes is the wedding ceremony. The ceremony is performed by a priest with a slight speech impediment. "Wuv, Twu wuv bwings us togewer today."

I've spent the day pondering love and marriage. I think there are some things that I have learned about marriage that are worth sharing.

Honesty. This sounds simple right? Do you know how hard it is to be totally honest with another person? I have learned that honesty truly is the best policy. My wife may not always like what I say, but she knows it is the truth. It took me several years to learn that when my wife asks what's wrong with me, she isn't prying, but is concerned about me. My go to answer was always "Nothing." (sound familiar?) Be honest with each other. Sometimes just talking about the bad day at work makes it better.

Communication. Did you know that women are not mind readers? If I want my wife to know something (see last paragraph) I have to tell her. Many problems in marriages can be avoided through simple communication. The hardest part of communication is the most important part. . . Listening. Guys, let me help you out with this: listen to your wife. Give her your complete attention and let her talk. Don't try to fix her problems, just let her tell you about them.

Love. Love each other. I'm not talking about falling in love or being in love, but loving each other. Love is being considerate of the other person's needs. Love is putting the other person first. Love is putting yourself last. Love is cleaning the house when you really don't want to. Love is staying at home with the kids while your wife goes out with the girls. All in all, love is sacrifice. Love is a series of choices that you make every day.

A successful marriage is like a triangle--it has three sides. Honesty, communication, and love. Keeping your relationship on an even keel requires working on each of these three sides. If one of these sides is week, your relationship will be week as well. There's a reason we say we have to work on our relationships. . . they do require work.