Each day millions of individuals are searching for a partner to experience that special loving feeling. But each year, millions of couples join together in love and then painfully separate because they have lost that loving feeling. From those who are able to sustain love long enough to get married, less than 50 percent stay married. Out of those who stay together, less than 50 percent are fulfilled. They stay together out of loyalty and obligation and the fear of starting over. Very few people, indeed, are able to grow in love. Yet it does happen. When men and women are able to respect and accept their differences then love has a chance to blossom.
Falling in love is always "magical." It feels eternal, as if love will last forever. We naively believe that somehow we are exempt from the problems our parents had, free from the odds that love will die, assured that it is meant to be and that we are destined to live happily ever after. But as the magic recedes and daily life takes over, it emerges that women continue to expect men to feel and behave like women, and men expect women to think and react like men. Without a clear awareness of our differences, we do not take the time to understand and respect each other. We become demanding, resentful, judgmental, and intolerant.
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