by Shirley Norling

Created on: September 13, 2008   Last Updated: September 23, 2011

There are a number of bad habits that can ruin a marriage. Some of the bad habits we have, we may not even be aware of because we've done them for so long that  they've become routine.

Examples of bad habits that can ruin a marriage are nagging, whining, not trusting your mate, not cooperating and working together as a team, losing interest in your marriage, and taking each other for granted, are a few that come to mind.

Compare the necessities that your body needs to be well and thrive, to your marriage. If you don't eat properly and get the exercise that's needed to keep your body healthy, you don't feel well and become unable to function at a normal level.The same thing can happen to a marriage if it's not nourished properly. Bad habits can overtake it and before you know it, it starts to break down and fall apart.

Bad habits can become very routine. Your spouse comes home, and the minute he gets in the door, the nagging starts. He's late, he should have been home earlier. We don't bother to ask why he's late, we just start in with the nagging. Eventually he doesn't even want to come home anymore, because of the the nagging and whining that he knows will be greeting him.

It's so easy to take each other for granted. The spouse comes home and automatically expects dinner to be ready. He grabs the remote and his favorite beverage and heads to the den to watch television. He doesn't bother to offer any help or ask how your day went. He just expects everything to be ready and waiting when he gets their.

He spends his weekends golfing, fishing, and watching football, and she goes out with her friends. Before long it seems like you don't have anything in common, and communication starts to crumble. A marriage consists of two separate individuals that each have their own interests and hobbies. There's nothing wrong with that. We do need to do things as a couple or as a family though, or before long there's no reason to be together. We need to have some dates, just like before we were married  to keep the interest and spark going in our marriage.

We need to work together as a team with rearing the children,  finances and other major issues that are such an important part of the marriage. If we fail to do this, we end up on separate tracks and before we know it things start to fall apart.

A majority of marriages  do fall apart because of financial issues. If we work together on this, we will both know where we stand. The economy is in very bad shape right now, and even working together can not guarantee one won't experience financial problems, but at least we will both be aware of them as a couple if we try to work it out together.

In order to have a successful, happy marriage, we have to recognize our bad habits, and try to overcome them, so our happy ever after vows, will be just that.

There are many other issues that can ruin a marriage, and a professional, which I certainly am not, may be needed to help solve many of those problems. These are  just a few minor issues that could possibly be solved by two people working together as a couple.

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