To love and to cherish...

...till death do us part.

Now doesn't that sound familiar? That usual phrase we often hear when a couple exchanged vows of matrimony.

Well, it's corny, and sugar-coated...life isnt all "happily ever after" like the movies. It's a conscious effort to work at that relationship, more so after marriage as it can get stale after the first few years. And usually, one party works harder at it than the other, sadly.

Ever heard of the "7 year itch"? If your marriage makes it through happily until the 7th year, your marriage is safe. True? Far from it. Wait till that sexy b*tch comes along and seduces your husband, because 7 years later, your husband would be having more money than when he first married you. $$ is a sexy quality in men, for many young girls...A guy friend recently insists there's truth in that. I don't deny it one bit.

All conditions are impermenant, you just have to try and make sure that the changes are positive, that you adapt to them and come out the winner either ways. Stay on top, that's the key.

When parents split up, the kid will suffer more emotional trauma than you can ever imagine.

When the father keeps a mistress, or has an affair, again the kids will feel the scar it leaves on their lives.

And sometimes, when death really do us part, and the other one remarries, the situation should be handled with utmost care, or all hell can break lose. Remarrying is ok, but the approach with the children should be delicate.

When I was little, I used to believe that all marriages were made in heaven, that one day everyone meets their first love, and will get happily married and that's the end of the story...until I grew up. Of course, there are a few people who actually married their first love...

Harsh realities of life, all of the above I've either seen (with friends and relatives) or personally witnessed the effect of it one way or the other. Thank the Lord Buddha that I always managed to stand by my principles, although there were a few times when the devil cast its spell of temptation and knocked me out silly...ok, ok, so I might have had to smack myself back to the righteous path a couple of times, but I pride myself in being able to do so...in the end. Not that I didnt slip a couple of times, but many I know have easily fallen full into the arms of the devil's temptation and lost their way.

Personally, I've witness so many marriages crumbling because there wasn't enough substance in the relationship to begin with. Lust or love...be careful which is which.