There are two types of happy couples: the ones that try to appear happy for everyone else’s sake, and the ones that are truly and genuinely content with each other.  And much to the dismay of the “keeping up appearances” kind of couple, it’s usually easy to recognize the kind of people who really have a strong and harmonious relationship.  They’re the ones taking pleasure in the smallest things, just because they’re doing those things together.  And they’re the ones that you’re going to see strolling through the park hand-in-hand after fifty-plus years of marriage. 

There’s an ongoing argument about the current percentage of marriages ending in divorce: some stats say as high as a staggering sixty percent while others are considerably lower.  But both parties have to agree that whatever the official number, divorce is heartbreakingly commonplace these days.  It’s safe to assume that very few people go into marriage already planning for a divorce.  We all hope we’ve found the one that we can happily grow old with.  So if that’s the case, why is divorce so popular – what goes wrong?  What do the happily partnered couples do to keep their marriages good that the divorcing couples don’t?