Couples choose divorce over commitment
by Julia Mims, reporter

    Each marriage today has roughly half a chance of being successful. With these ominous statistics, what is the point of marriage anymore? It seems as if no one takes it seriously, anyway.

    We have become a very wasteful society. Anything that is not worth salvaging in someone’s eyes is just thrown away. I believe this has carried over into our thinking on marriage.

    Marriage itself has become disposable. People have adopted an attitude of “if it was meant to work out, it will, but if it doesn’t, it isn’t a big deal.”

    I know people don’t consciously think this way. Individuals don’t get married with the intentions of getting divorced (with the exception of Anna Nicole Smith).

    It just seems as though people have forgotten that marriage is work. Divorce has become so commonplace that we need to look at what is happening.

    I also understand that some couples have a good reason for getting divorced, but it seems as if there has been an influx of irreconcilable differences flying around lately. Divorce has become such an easy way out for many people.

    Has it become easier to fight than to resolve? It seems that people are always looking for someone else to blame, yet are not willing to look truthfully at themselves

    One does not get into marriage to make life easier. Marriage is about letting another person into your life regardless of both of your faults.

    There are no instructions, and at times both people will want to give up. But if two people can work through their problems and communicate their needs to one another, the reward of true intimacy is something worth fighting for.

    According to my parents, money was the main reason they split up. However, neither takes the blame. Depending on who is telling the story, the other was the one with the problem.

    I just sit there and listen as my mom talks about how much of a tightwad my dad is, and then I hear my dad say how my mother can’t manage money.

    Their problem definitely wasn’t money. Neither could admit to being wrong. Marriage is not a competition of stubbornness; marriage is a test of one’s spirit.

    How are two people supposed to work out a problem if they can’t even sit down and determine what is wrong? I would be happy if my parents could just sit down together.

    Some will think I am just an idealist and since I have never been married, I couldn’t possibly know how hard marriage really is. In my defense though, I know enough not to give up on someone just because times get rough. If people could learn how to talk to each other, that would be half the battle.

    If someone asked for my thoughts on what makes a successful marriage, I would say open communication. Good communication is needed in every aspect of life.

    Watching my parents, I realized lack of communication was their downfall.

    I just want to understand what pulls people together and then drives them apart so easily. I am looking for an answer that is probably complex and different for everyone.

    I figure if I just do the exact opposite of my parents, I will be okay.