1950’s Marriage Advice
If you ask someone the question “what makes a successful marriage?” you will get a variety of responses. And for good reason — marriage is a subjective and personal topic. And while there are a number of legitimate answers to the question, there are certain key ingredients to a successful marriage that few would argue with. Most of these marital success keys aren’t new, and many have been the foundation of successful marriages for hundreds of years. So without further ado, let me present to you my infamous 1950’s marriage advice guide.
The first key ingredient is trust. It’s pretty hard to have a successful marriage if you can’t even trust your spouse, right? Trust is the basis for all healthy relationships, and marriage is no different. If you’re constantly wondering what your spouse is up to because you don’t trust him, you’re going to have to work through that.
The next piece of marriage advice that’s been around since the 1950’s is loyalty. I know that’s not a popular word these days, but loyalty in a marriage means being willing to stick with your spouse no matter what. It’s a commitment to weather the challenges of life together regardless of the cost.
The next nugget of marital advice is unselfishness. Another unpopular word these days, unselfishness was the hallmark of nearly all successful marriages in the 1950’s. Unselfishness means you stop trying to get what you want. Unselfishness means you seek the interests of your spouse even above your own interests.
Today there is no shortage of marriage counselors who will try to sell you on all sorts of novel concepts and trendy ideas. Unfortunately, precious few of these modern day therapists espouse the 1950’s type of marriage advice I outlined above. It’s time we get back to basics and reverse the increasing divorce trend in our society. Luckily for us, we need only look to our past values to make progress.