Unlucky in Love

Beginning in 1986 Terri Orbuch, an author and psychologist commenced a study in which she followed the lives of 373 married couples for over 20 years.  Nearly half of these couples had divorced over the decades (pretty typical numbers), and they shared with the researcher lessons that they had learned as a result of their…

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Updating Your Flying Skills

When my children were young, we used to drive to the Fresno airport, park, and spend an hour or two just watching planes take off and land.  We were mesmerized by the fact that these huge pieces of machinery could get off the ground.  Oh yes, there is a detailed scientific explanation as to how…

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Want a Job Promotion?

You may be wondering, “What in the world does my relationship have to do with a job promotion?” Well, I’m glad you asked. A five year research project out of Washington University in St. Louis made some very interesting, and relevant to relationships, discoveries. The project involved more than 4,500 people, examining the relationship between…

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Want to be a Better Parent?

I was intrigued by a recent article in the OP/ED section of our newspaper, “Ten reasons to live without a smartphone.”  As I read numerous studies regarding the ways in which smartphones impact relationships, this caught my attention.  The author cites the high percentage of smartphone users in the 18 to 49 age bracket and…

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Want to Be Fixed?

When is the last time you went to your partner and said – “I am broken, please fix me?”  Or, “I have some flaws, would you please correct them for me?”  As you read these questions, you probably are thinking that I’m nuts (I may be but that is a different discussion for another time). …

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Want to Be Healthier?

“I am telling you, she gives me such a headache.”  “The way that he treats me leaves me with a churning stomach.”  “All we ever seem to do is fight – it makes me sick.”  Have you ever felt this way?  If so, you’re not alone.  In a study that was reported at the American…

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Want to Live Longer?

Now that may seem like a silly question because the majority of people reading this would probably say -”Of course!”  Life and survival to live another day is a basic instinct hard-wired into our DNA.  God placed that drive in us so that we would live the life He has designed for us. If we…

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Want to Suffer?

As you read that title, you are probably thinking, “Of course not.”  And that echoes the sentiments of most of us.  We hate suffering.  We want comfort.  We want to lay in a hammock, drink wine, nap, get a massage – anything that pampers ourselves.  But suffer – no thanks; I am happy to skip…

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We Need Deadlines

In February 1963, an official from UNICEF approached Disneyland executives about building them a ride for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair.  Initially, executives turned down the opportunity as they simply didn’t believe they had enough time to put a quality ride together.  However, Walt overruled his executive’s decision with his statement, “I’ve got an…

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Weathering the Storms

For many, getting married was going to be the ultimate lifelong bliss that each and longed for.  We were going to be different from all of those other couples who seemed to fight and struggle with problems.  We had found the one who would make us happy and we would not experience the difficulties that…

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