There are about a thousand reasons why marriages do not work, but for the purpose of this article, I will just deal with what I call the change factor. Is this a guy problem or is it a girl problem? Is it a parental problem or is it a societal problem?
Omolulu,
Thanks for giving it a name. I also think this is one of the most important factors affecting the success of start-up marriages. A friend asked recently how compatible I judged she and her fiancee to be and the chances of a successful marriage and I said, quite good but don't quote me. My reason was that expectations do change soon after marriage. Some likely scenarios I used are contained in your article. I do not think they are enough to make a marriage not work or lead to divorce but "the change factor" does lead to an uncomfortable first few months which can stifle or even kill live/ marriage if not well managed.
What you will notice from these two scenarios is that after the marriage, they both had different expectations from the other. They expected the other to be a certain way, “because we are now married.” Marriage is a journey and usually a difficult one, because you are no longer living for yourself but for someone else (well, that’s how it should be anyway). When a couple gets to the point where they feel like the other should change things that they initially had no problem with, because they are now married, it will take a miracle for that marriage to stand.
GBAM! GBAM! GBAM!
@Olamide,
Thanks for your write-up. It is very informative...