I recalled a character in an English drama saying, "Getting married is one thing, but staying marriedis another"

True enough. Because getting married only occurs in a day. Well maybe a few days, or at most, a week. But that does not conclude your marriage. The journey to a successful marriage is still a long way. And when it gets long, sometimes it can even get rocky.

Imagine a pathway, so smooth when you first step on it. That represents your wedding day, filled with colours and smiling faces, as well as tears of joy.

Then as you walk along the pathway, you may tumble and fall, trip on pebbles or stones, or even slip and fall because it is raining and the ground is wet. When that happens, either you would pick yourself up from the fall and walk again like before, or you would walk another way and never want to return to that pathway again. Now that represents your marriage, and how you want to manage it. When there are bad times befalling on you and your partner, you would either cling on to your partner and do your very best to work things out, or you would walk out of him or her, and never wish to return to that life again, resulting in divorce.

This marriage world is full of ups and downs. More ups and downs than you can ever imagine. You do not have only yourself to think of, but you also have your significant other beside you to attend to. And then later on, you will have more of your significant others to think of. Your kids! You need to understand the needs of your partner and your children, but it does not mean that you cannot cater to your needs ever again.

Marriage is all about mutual respect and compromise. Both partners need to know each other better in terms of the likes and dislikes, the dreams that you want to achieve in life, and the decisions made and the reasons behind the decisions made. Both need to show some amount of respect for each other's opinions of certain issues facing them, and afterwards, come to a certain agreement over something. In other words, compromise! Marriage should not go one way. Communication should not be one-way. As important as it is for the wife to listen to the husband's thoughts and feelings, it is also important for the husband to do so unto the wife. This is what we call reciprocation of feelings. Husbands should not deny the fact that wives have feelings to express to them, and vice versa.

Marriage is about sticking to each other through thick and thin. When you love someone, would you

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