Is Happiness Marrying Your Best Friend
In today's western society, marriage has less of a functional role than it did in the past. Historically arranged marriages brought benefits to a family as a whole, or even a country. Children of parents, be they royal or other, were brought together by the union of marriage in order to create a bond between the two groups. Nowadays in western society, marriage tends to result much more from the choice of two individuals who wish to officially and legally bind themselves together for the rest of their lives. Therefore, these present day unions are much more reliant on the ability of those individuals involved to maintain them, and one extremely important factor in this maintenance is happiness. |
Maintaining happiness in marriage can be achieved in infinite ways, and different couples and individuals may achieve happiness differently. However, there are certain arguments made for looking for particular qualities in your potential spouse, or looking for a particular person. One of these arguments leads towards finding marital happiness with your best friend as opposed to somebody that you simply find physically attractive. The basis of this argument is that we choose our friends, particularly our closest and "best" friends on common and shared factors, things such as interests, sense of humour, cultural experience and situation. With those we are closest to, these common factors help building long lasting and successful relationships. So why should we not put this reasoning towards our marital goals, and put friendship up as one of the pre-requisites when considering a possible relationship. Marriage is not always easy, especially in modern society where we are encouraged to think that if something is not working, we should change it. However, many of us still want to believe that marriage is a lasting union and look for ways to ensure this. A marriage with a strong friendship base might well have the foundations necessary to overcome hurdles thrown along the way. If two people share a strong common ground, they are more likely to agree, or want to agree on certain principal issues. However it is important to note that simply marrying your best friend, without further consideration other than the fact that they are your best friend, might not be the answer either. Happiness in marriage is made up of all sorts of factors, and friendship and common ground is only one of them.
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