Think About Your Relationship . . .

Is there a difference between marriage and
the relationship you have in marriage?

Does your marriage determine your relationship
or does your relationship determine whether or not
you have a good marriage?

Take a minute and look around the room you are sitting in. Look at the walls, their color, height, their texture, the molding, how close they are to each other.  How much effort would it take to move just one wall in this room?  Would you have to adjust the roof? floor? other walls?  Would it be worth all the trouble?

Now take a minute and look at the furniture in this room. It is arranged in a particular way. Have you ever considered rearranging the furniture in this room? What would be involved?  Could you move it by yourself?  Could you and your partner move the furniture together?  Would you argue over how to arrange the furniture in the room?  How would you resolve your differences?
Would one of you insist on your way?

Couples confuse their marriage and their relationship. 

Marriage can be compared to the walls of an office or room. They are in place and don’t move very easily without causing incredible damage to the whole house. Other walls, the roof and floor must be adjusted in order to move just one wall.  The task can be overwhelming and very expensive.

Relationships can be thought of as furniture in a room that can be arranged in a variety of ways. Some furniture arrangements fit better than others in a room. You may like the way you have arranged the relationship in your marriage, but your partner may have different ideas regarding the arrangement.  Your partner may have lived with one arrangement for some period of time, but is ready to try something different. 

Or … 

You have been arguing over the same piece of furniture (sex, money, children, time, family, etc.) for years, but nothing ever gets resolved. The same things keep being said, with little or no movement in any particular direction, and you are sick and tired of it. 

Or …

You may have decided “this ole house just isn’t big enough for the two of us.”  You are ready to find a different place to hang out.  You might take a decorating (relationship) course or two before you go out and make the same mistakes with that much more determination to have the couch where you want it and the chairs turned a particular way.

Should you destroy the walls (divorce) or learn how to rearrange the furniture (relationship) in a different way?

Do you believe it is possible to rearrange the way you relate to each other?

Have you thought about whether the problem is your relationship or your marriage? 

So How Do You Arrange Your Relationship For Success?

Relationship Success 101
is the answer!