How to Have a Lasting Marriage

Is your marriage built to last? That depends on the premise on which it was started.

Whether you got married on a reality TV show or on the quiet in Invercargill, your marriage is only as strong as the reasons by which you got married to your spouse.

If you got married out of desperation to get out of the house by taking the first available flight without due diligence, you might have to adapt a lot in order to survive the marriage.

If you marry for her wealth alone, then it would be challenging when the wealth diminishes.

If you marry him because you are blinded by his chiseled looks (think Superman), go figure whether you will still stand by him when he become an old man.

If marriage is a contract, then both parties will see to it that the terms are fulfilled in order to sustain the marriage.

By the way this is an essential digression in our interconnected world, that if you are attracted to an exotic foreigner please be sure to visit his or her home country before you fall in love. Otherwise, it might be a case of too little and too late when you discover that there are so many others who look just like your person of interest. Better be forewarned than sorry!

Photo by Gabby Orcutt on Unsplash

For a marriage to last, both parties must stay committed to the covenant of instituting a marriage as encapsulated in a typical vow such as the following:

I, ____, take you, ____, to be my (husband/wife). I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life.

I, ____, take you, ____, to be my wife (or husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy law, and this is my solemn vow.

 

A marriage is built to last when the two imperfect parties to a marriage stick to their covenant of love, come what may, faithfully. It is not just about him or her. Marriage is a synergy of outlined rules of love that works if worked on by him and her.

 

Gratitude Challenge - Day 10 (Love)

"Gratitude is a powerful process for shifting your energy and bringing more of what you want into your life. Be grateful for what you already have and you will attract more good things. If you just study this one word "gratitude" every day for a month, I guarantee that your life will shift." --Bob Proctor

Join me on this one-month journey to practise "gratitude" on a daily basis and see how it would impact your life. You could keep a journal or blog of your own, and post your comments below.

For Day 10 let's be thankful for Love.

Image credits: Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

You are the product or offspring of love between a man and woman known as husband and wife, respectively. Pardon me for stating the obvious as this natural order is being pelted by rebels who defy a divine order and unwittingly mess up the gender of a husband and wife with untold ramification down the road which they themselves may not be aware of. But, that's another story.

Love, not money, is what makes the world go round. It is the love for a better life, their family or their passion that propels people to work hard or build their business and create wealth for all and sundry in the process.

What you enjoy today is a result of the love and sacrifices of the pioneers in your country, your parents who brought you up, your teachers who taught you, your mentors who guided you with their savvy insights, your truest friends who never gave up on you even when you messed up, your first employer who gave you the break you needed, and so forth.

As you channel the love which has benefitted you to your passion and show some love to others, may you blessed with even more love as what goes around comes around.

Thank you for reading and sharing Daily Refreshing.

Delivery Bikes of the Day

Once upon a time in Singapore, e-scooters were all the rage. They are now all gone faster than they had emerged, many times over, and after many a fire caused by overcharging their batteries.

What you see now as the choice commute for food deliveries are bicycles and e-bikes.

Here is a sample of of the machines being deployed which will expectedly be transformed over time as ingenuity kicks in to reinvent the wheels as we know them today in their current state of play.

What is the Price of Freedom?

You could tweet about the price of freedom as you watch, say, protesters taking to the streets of Hong Kong and crossed the line with violence.

Or you could ask our two feathered friends here who have much more limited freedom albeit well fed and protected, and understand the meaning of true freedom outside the cage.

As you are held hostage-like by Operation Covid-19, you might also amuse yourself as you draw a plausible parallel with Stockholm syndrome.

For recapitulation, this is Wikipedia's take on Stockholm syndrome: "This term was first used by the media in 1973 when four hostages were taken during a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden. The hostages defended their captors after being released and would not agree to testify in court against them. Though it was noted that in this case, the police were perceived to have acted with little care for the hostages safety, providing an alternative reason for their unwillingness to testify. Stockholm syndrome is paradoxical because the sympathetic sentiments that captives feel towards their captors are the opposite of the fear and disdain which an onlooker might feel towards the captors."

The size of freedom is relative and limited by degree. For example, we are earthbound until we start to colonise Mars, and within each country we are free to the extent of what is not prohibited by law, beliefs and social norms.

The price of freedom only makes sense when you know the size of freedom that you have in mind, and other people will then make a collective call on whether what you ask for is reasonable and plausible before they are moved to render support.

More to Coffee than a Beverage

The hidden persuader of marketing would have you know that there is more to coffee than what you drink. Same goes with your tea, Coca-cola or Redbull.

Some would go to great length to let you know that their beans are carefully curated and processed optimally to deliver the perfect cuppa to make your day great.

Others like Starbucks will offer you an experience that makes the ordinary extraordinary as they infuse principles such as Make It Your Own, Everything Matters, Surprise and Delight, Embrace Resistance, and Leave Your Mark, into their service culture to connect with the customers.

When the process of getting your brew and/or the aroma and taste of the product delight your senses and provides a launchpad for inspiration, you won't bother to negotiate the price.

Unique Value Proposition is what makes some roasts winners of your dogged patronage.