Breakthroughs Today

A UK survey that Judi James conducted found that the famed "7-year-itch," that period in marriage afterwhich a pressured life--both in time and money--take its toll on the couples' relation, and either spouse started going out alone. Right now, it has gone down into three years, a serious drop by four years. [ Read full report ] Findings Here are some essential findings: Small irritations. Around 67 percent of the 2000 respondents reported that small irritations often expand into major irritations. Sexual satisfaction. Lesser number of couples enjoy sexual relations. Younger relationships, 52 percent of them, reported enjoying it at least three times a week. Relationships older than three years had it only in 16 percent of respondents. Scheduled intimacy. Around 55 percent of respondents said that they now have to "schedule" their romantic time because of day-to-day demands of their time. Compliment hunger. Those, about 33 percent of them, who stayed in a

DR. DAVE CURRIE AND GLEN HOOS Chinese Women Today A great sex life: we all want it. And, judging by what we see in the movies, we've all got it. Not so fast. It's not as easy as it's made out to be. In fact, as I've worked with couples over the years, I'd estimate that fewer than one third of married couples enjoy a mutually satisfying sexual relationship. Sexual issues are troublesome on a number of levels. First of all, they are felt very deeply by both partners: by men, because their sense of self-worth is tied so closely to their sex life; and by women, because sexuality is often an area of extreme vulnerability. Add to that the fact that sexual difficulties are tough to talk about - and even tougher to seek help on - and it’s easy to see why so many couples struggle in this area. Sex alone cannot be the foundation of a marriage. Nevertheless, when it's going well, there's no doubt that sex is a powerful glue that bonds a couple together and builds real

ZOSIMO T. LITERATUS, RMT Freedom has always been found at the time of making a decision, a choice of actions, things, and more. Once the choice has been made, freedom ends with the consequences of that decision or choice. Then freedom reappears with how a person handles the impact of the results from those decisions. The same natural process continues to play in marriage, from the choice of a partner, to the decision to enter into marriage, and the eventual decision to stay or separate ways. Professor emeritus of sociology at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, New Jersey USA) David Popenoe founded the National Marriage Project to provide research analysis on the state of marriage in America as one of its two-pronged mission. The project financially supported by the university in cooperation with private foundations came up a guideline entitled “Ten Important Research findings on Marriage and Choosing a Marriage Partner: Helpful Facts for Young Adults.” It was published in November 2004