what makes a marriage successful?

For the first article, I wanted to find out what common components make or contribute to a successful marriage, and see if I agree with them or not. Through this article  I was able to find a list of characteristics that the popular talk show host Dr. Phil believes makes marriages successful. His list emphasizes that marriage takes effort, and what you put in is essentially what you get back. He also states in the article to forget right from wrong, and focus on what you are doing and whether or not it is working. Another important point he makes is that action and non- verbal communication speaks much louder than words. In this article I was not able to find a point that he made, that I truly disagree with. However he makes many excellent points which I agree with, and I want to explain why.

I agree with what Dr. Phil had to say in this article because I think that it touches upon a lot of important aspects in a marriage and offers points on what makes a successful marriage just that, successful. I agree with him 100% that whatever effort you put into something you will get back, especially if your partner is on the same page as you. It’s similar to anything, if you don’t try to get what you want you obviously will not get it, unless you’re one of the luck few who gets things handed to them. Learning what I have from Psychology I know that body language and facial expressions completely give away what one is thinking or feeling. For example if your arms are always crossed in the presence of your spouse then you are psychically closing yourself off. It’s important to the success of a marriage to open up to your spouse. By showing them you still care through your actions. It is clear in almost any situation that actions speak louder than words, so in a successful marriage this needs to be understood.