Love Letter “D” is for Dedication.

When you say “I do” there is an expectation from your partner that your marriage will succeed and vice-versa. No one ever utters their vows during their ceremony with the goal of failure in mind, Yet about half of the couples each year really does what it takes to ensure their marriage survives.

Telling the world you are going to have the best marriage is a simple one. It’s about commitment plain and simple. Having the best marriage you can have feels great. At times it can be discouraging and exhausting. because dedication requires commitment to the mental side of marriage. When one loses that commitment it’s not because of their lack of desire; it is about their lack of self discipline.

In a marriage when you aspire to excellence you have to be willing to forgo comfort and ease. By making the sacrifice, you elevate yourself to a level of extraordinary behavior separating yourself from the ordinary. Sometimes you must ask more of yourself;ask more of your partner, rather than allowing less of yourself.

To tackle the mental side to having a strong marriage, you must do these 5 things:

• Learn “what it takes” to succeed in a great marriage, so you can be dedicated to doing what it takes.
• Understand that any dedication to a successful marriage includes sometimes sacrificing instant gratification for long-term success
• Develop an attitude that reflects the appreciation of whatever process helps you and your partner to having a more effective marriage.
• Be aware of the tendency to react to an ineffective marriage by “working harder” at physical appearance whether it be losing weight, physical enhancements or a total makeover. The cause of the ineffective marriage is more more mental than physical.
• Be determined to hold each other accountable on a daily basis in order to improve and maintain the mental side of your marriage.

The daily pursuit of excellence in a marriage indicates a commitment to personal and family growth, which in turn helps build and reinforce self-confidence. If it were easy, everyone would do this. It isn’t;they don’t.