Okay, any fool can poke fun at anything. And you old married people with you frustrated and scrounged up face are funny.

However, there needs to be real assistance here. I say half of the solution is understanding the problem.

My first concern in addressing marriage challenges is did the person marry well. This means were they aware of who they are as a person , know what they want, and work at getting to know if the person was the right choice.

I would say that for most couples the heart-to-heart and in depth conversations come after the honeymoon. This is the wrong time to have a sit-down chat about who you are and what you expect out of a marriage.

I am not telling you to bore each other with intricate conversation on the evolution of human emotions.

In fact I know that spiritual conversation is a matter of time. By spiritual I mean the growing close to each other emotionally. Of course there needs to be honesty. There also needs to be respect; which means you do not put your spouse/mate down for their personal challenges.

In my opinion before the honeymoon silk and lace comes on you should have spent enough time with the person that you know exactly who they are and who you are in life. This requires a lot of time and effort.

It is to bad that people meet at 8:07pm and by 8:15pm they are in the sack.

Now another problem in marriage is fear of intimacy. Many people cannot live an emotional life with another person. They did not learn appropriate emotional communication in their growing up years.

Getting these people to divulge any feelings at all is like pushing a dump truck up a hill.

The problem is that eventually you and they can close of emotionally. This will lead to limited interaction and a dry and joyless life.

Now, fair warning, men are not the only emotionally clueless. Just like men many women think all they have to do is meet their bedroom aerobics obligation and they have also met their emotional obligation. This is not true.

You should tell your spouse how you feel and why. Accepting their interest, support, and advice are also good practices.

Now, listening to a person talk about his or her feelings does not mean you have the right to take over control of their lives. People have to work out their own life challenges. Your job as a mate is to listen, provide some constructive criticism, and offer diversions from stressing out over something that requires time to solve.

Okay, now to more pressing problem in marriage. Many couples do not know how to enjoy life. It may be one person has no interest or both suffer from not having pursuits in life. This is wrong. Life is meant to be lived.

You need people in your life, recreation, action and adventure, entertainment, intimacy, love, romance, out door activities, and much much more.

Okay you also need to earn the bread. However, life is more than paying bills and working.

I know that if people put their minds to it they will find out how to manage their responsibilities and have time for life.

In addition, be loving and respectful and care for each other. Changes that need to be made require time.