Thoughts on Marriage

Good marriages come in many shapes and sizes. Like the people who share them
they are unique. Perhaps there are some basic materials, however, from which
lasting relationships are built. I would recommend four. Each is a choice—made
and remade—in the passing years and the many changes of life.

ACCEPTANCE
COMMITMENT
OPENNESS
LOVE

To accept someone as he is frees him to grow, to become what he is not.
To commit oneself to another is to offer him the freedom of security.
Acceptance and commitment provide a safe place for openness.

I can love most fully what I know. So deepening openness and
deepening love are parts of a whole.

The best marriages need a lifetime for giving and taking,
accepting and growing, commiting and freeing,
opening and loving.

By Linda L. Gage