{"id":1831,"date":"2013-10-22T08:29:56","date_gmt":"2013-10-22T13:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthecouch\/?p=1831"},"modified":"2013-10-22T08:29:56","modified_gmt":"2013-10-22T13:29:56","slug":"whats-the-1-reason-marriages-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthecouch\/2013\/10\/whats-the-1-reason-marriages-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s the #1 Reason Marriages Fail?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

People always ask me that question.\u00a0 They expect me to say, \u201cpoor communication\u201d or \u201cinfidelity\u201d or \u201caddiction\u201d or some such.\u00a0\u00a0Although these are all challenges, the real problem\u00a0\u00a0is something deeper.\u00a0 Here\u2019s an article from Together for Life<\/a> <\/em>taken from Lisa and my latest book, Just Married:\u00a0 The Catholic Guide to Surviving & Thriving in the First Five Years of Marriage.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

In fact, the most common\u00a0reason for marital break-ups actually cause all of\u00a0these problems and more.<\/em><\/p>\n

The biggest contributor to marital problems and,\u00a0eventually, marital breakdown is that husbands and\u00a0wives tend to love their own comfort zones more than they love each other. This leads to no end of opportunities\u00a0to feel rejected, resentful, and angry.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Some people ask us what we mean when we talk about\u00a0\u201ccomfort zones.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Your comfort zone represents the\u00a0range of experiences, relationships, and ways of being\u00a0that are familiar, common, and preferred. A comfort\u00a0zone represents the way you like to live your life, dress,\u00a0behave, and organize your day. Your comfort zone\u00a0includes those things you know how to do well and\u00a0things you enjoy doing in your free time\u2014for instance,\u00a0your hobbies, interests, and skills.<\/em><\/p>\n

It represents the way\u00a0you prefer to act around people. For example, are you\u00a0the life of the party, or do you like to keep to yourself?<\/em><\/p>\n

Likewise, your comfort zone represents the ways (and\u00a0the degree to which) you like to give and receive affection.\u00a0For example, do you like to display a lot of affection,\u00a0or are you more reserved? Do you like exploring\u00a0lots of different ways to show your love for each other\u00a0(in and out of the bedroom), or are there certain things\u00a0that are more comfortable and meaningful than others?<\/em><\/p>\n

In short, your comfort zone represents most of the preferences\u00a0you may tend to think makes you \u201cyou.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The fact that marriage is a sacrament means, at least\u00a0in part, that marriage is all about getting you and your\u00a0spouse out of your comfort zones in order to create a\u00a0unified couple. Why?\u00a0\u00a0 READ MORE\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People always ask me that question.\u00a0 They expect me to say, \u201cpoor communication\u201d or \u201cinfidelity\u201d or \u201caddiction\u201d or some such.\u00a0\u00a0Although these are all challenges, the real problem\u00a0\u00a0is something deeper.\u00a0 Here\u2019s an article from Together for Life taken from Lisa and my latest book, Just Married:\u00a0 The Catholic Guide to Surviving & Thriving in the First […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1437,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marriage","category-relationship"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat's the #1 Reason Marriages Fail?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People always ask me that question.\u00a0 They expect me to say, "poor communication" or "infidelity" or "addiction" or some 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