The Couples Post

Adapted from: 3 Defenses Against Affairs, by William McKenna
People are not getting married in large numbers and why would they? Statistics show that about half of all marriages end in divorce. Television shows and movies often depict marriage in a negative light while leading viewers to celebrate when a character has an affair like it is inevitable and desirable. While no two marriages are exactly alike, there are some very basic and proven ways to “affair-proof” your marriage.

Photo by Wilson Sánchez
Nine years into marriage, we were planning to leave town to visit family after Mark worked a half day.  Mel packed up the kids and the car, and Mark just needed to throw in his suitcase.Mark was delayed several hours at work.By the time we met up, we were both irritated and highly stressed and just

This post originally appeared one year ago, but has been re-posted for those who may have missed it the first time around.
Something that we’ve become increasingly aware of in our marriage is how our tone of voice so significantly affects our communication – for better or for worse! It is remarkable how something so seemingly small can make such a huge impact on whether our communication is healthy, productive, and enriching or debilitating, disheartening, and provocative. Believe it or not, tone of voice is huge. WE would go as far as to say tone of voice is at the root of most of the small hurts we experience in our relationship.

We all know anger when we see it  -- a clenched fist, a raised voice, a sullen look.  Anger can quickly surface and is readily expressed, but often it is a cover up for underlying feelings: