Читать книгу Sex For Dummies - Pierre Lehu A., Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer - Страница 134

So if love isn’t enough, and kids aren’t enough, what is this thing called commitment? Its components will be different for each and every person involved in a marriage, but the basic philosophy is the same. Commitment is a willingness to put the marriage ahead of the individual whenever necessary.

Every marriage undergoes trials of one sort or another. One partner may become sick. Money problems may crop up. Parents can put pressure both on their offspring and their spouses. Just the everyday stress of having kids and jobs creates conflicts. And some unlucky souls will face all of the above.

Some pressures are actually easier to handle as a couple than individually. If a natural disaster strikes, such as a flood or an earthquake, it’s obviously better to be two people struggling to go on with your lives rather than one. Even if you’ve lost all the treasures you’ve accumulated over the years, at least you still have someone with whom to share the memories of the past.

Other situations can be especially hard on a marriage. If you have a boss who expects you to work late every night, not only do you have to struggle with your own anger, but then you have to go home and get nasty looks from your spouse, who is sick of being alone every night. When one person gets caught in the middle and can’t bear the pressure, then either the job or the marriage may have to go.