Studies show that roughly one out of two marriages end in divorce. One of the reasons for this is couples today are not prepared for all—the good and bad—that may happen in marriage. Are you prepared? Author and blogger Jackie Bledsoe outlines the seven stages, or seven rings of marriages, that will equip couples for all stages in marriage. He challenges couples to keep moving through each stage for a lasting and fulfilling marriage. Through The Seven Rings of Marriage, readers gain a deeper appreciation of what marriage is, and get a clear picture of what may lie ahead in their marriage. Diligently go about making your marriage everything you and your spouse hoped for, and more! The seven rings are: Ring #1—Engagement RING Ring #2—Wedding RING Ring #3—DiscoveRING Ring #4—PerseveRING Ring #5—RestoRING Ring #6—ProspeRING Ring #7—MentoRING Visit http://jackiebledsoe.com/7rings/ to learn more about The Seven Rings of Marriage, and get additional resources.

"One of the foremost relationship experts at work today offers creative insight on building trust and avoiding betrayal, helping readers to decode the mysteries of healthy love and relationships"--

What separates happy marriages from miserable ones? Surprisingly, it’s not healthy communication. It’s not conflict resolution skills. It’s actually the size of the marriage’s joy gap . Joy Gap/joi gap/ (n.)-1. The length of time between moments of shared joy When the joy gap gets bigger, problems are more likely to overwhelm you, resentment creeps in, and you start to feel distant and alone in your marriage. When the joy gap is smaller, you regularly feel connected and happy, problems feel manageable, and your marriage becomes a reliable source of joy. But how do you ensure that you’re experiencing joy regularly? Marcus Warner and Chris Coursey have studied relationships (and neuroscience) and discovered four habits that keep joy regular and problems small. Some couples do them naturally, but anyone can learn. That’s why each chapter includes 15-minute exercises that boost joy and re-train your brain to make joy your default setting. You’ll learn new skills including how to: return to joy more quickly after disconnection create stronger bonds and elongate times of happiness boost your enjoyment of physical and emotional intimacy Find out what your marriage looks like after a little work and a whole lot of joy.

From the introduction: "Now for full disclosure, sometimes I do not make the noble choice . . . [and] I know when I fail to expend the energy needed to make a conscious decision that it takes a toll on my relationship. Here's where this book becomes a gift. Because once we understand the natural laws of sustaining love, we can take control of our actions instead of flailing about, helpless in the face of our basest emotions or leftover childhood trauma. With each choice, we can thoughtfully clear the way for a lifetime of love." Dr. Bonnie Jacobson, author and psychologist of nearly forty years, knows that no couple is perfect and in Choose to Be Happily Married, this is the first and foremost truth. The second is that every couple has the ability to experience true and lasting happiness, within that imperfect—real life—love. Structured around twenty-five everyday Turning Points, with anecdotal case studies supporting each one, this unique couples' therapy tool inspires and informs readers better than any costly session with a marriage counselor could.

“If you’re at the end of your relationship rope, reach for Radical Acceptance.” —Elle A refreshing new approach to romantic partnerships, grounded in the importance of unconditional love that shows how “prioritizing your partner [creates] true happiness in your relationship” (John Gray, PhD, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus). Loving the lovable parts of your partner is easy. He’s funny, charming, smart, successful, and kind. He’s perfect. Except for when he is not. Like when he is late. Or short-tempered. Or lazy. Or he’s incorrectly loaded the dishwasher (again). Maybe he feels like the most frustrating person on the planet. Or maybe you’re simply not feeling heard or seen. Or loved enough. It’s these proverbial unlovable parts that make loving all of him so tough. But imagine if you let go of your itch to fix, judge, improve, or control your partner. Imagine if you replaced judgement with compassion and empathy. Tremendous empowerment and liberation come from loving someone—and being loved—for who we really are. This practice is called Radical Acceptance. Whether you’re looking for Mr. Right or are already with him, this is your powerful five-step guide to attaining life’s ultimate prize: unconditional love. You’ll learn how to increase your emotional resilience, feel more confident, determine whether you’re settling, quiet those doubt-filled voices in your head, get out of that endless cycle of dead-end dates, reduce conflict, and build a deeply fulfilling, affirming relationship—all through highly actionable advice. Best of all, you will discover how amazing it feels to have your heart expanded by an abundance of love and compassion for your partner and yourself. Featuring compelling stories for real-life couples and insights from the foremost thought leaders and researchers in brain science, sexuality, psychotherapy, and neurobiology, Radical Acceptance illustrates that embracing your partner for exactly who they are will lead to a more harmonious relationship—and provide an unexpected path to your own personal transformation.

'A passionate, provocative book. It isn't just a self-help book. It is a manifesto for a better society' Sunday Times 'One of the most rigorous articulations of the new mood of acceptance...a persuasive demolition of many of our cultural stories about how we ought to live' Oliver Burkeman, Guardian Paul Dolan, the bestselling author of Happiness by Design, shows us how to escape the myth of perfection and find our own route to happiness. Be ambitious; find everlasting love; look after your health ... There are countless stories about how we ought to live our lives. These narratives can make our lives easier, and they might sometimes make us happier too. But they can also trap us and those around us. In Happy Ever After, bestselling happiness expert Professor Paul Dolan draws on a variety of studies ranging over wellbeing, inequality and discrimination to bust the common myths about our sources of happiness. He shows that there can be many unexpected paths to lasting fulfilment. Some of these might involve not going into higher education, choosing not to marry, rewarding acts rooted in self-interest and caring a little less about living forever. By freeing ourselves from the myth of the perfect life, we might each find a life worth living.

'So compellingly personal you feel you're looking over her shoulder as she sits down to write' New York Times 'Electrically entertaining ... Funny, generous, spirited and kind' The Times This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an irresistible blend of literature and memoir revealing the big experiences and little moments that shaped Ann Patchett as a daughter, wife, friend and writer. Here, Ann Patchett shares entertaining and moving stories about her tumultuous childhood, her painful early divorce, the excitement of selling her first book, driving a Winnebago from Montana to Yellowstone Park, her joyous discovery of opera, scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, the gradual loss of her beloved grandmother, starting her own bookshop in Nashville, her love for her very special dog and, of course, her eventual happy marriage. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a memoir both wide ranging and deeply personal, overflowing with close observation and emotional wisdom, told with wit, honesty and irresistible warmth.

A collection of essays extended from The New York Times' most-read article of 2016. Anyone we might marry could, of course, be a little bit wrong for us. We don’t expect bliss every day. The fault isn’t entirely our own; it has to do with the devilish truth that anyone we’re liable to meet is going to be rather wrong, in some fascinating way or another, because this is simply what all humans happen to be – including, sadly, ourselves. This collection of essays proposes that we don’t need perfection to be happy. So long as we enter our relationships in the right spirit, we have every chance of coping well enough with, and even delighting in, the inevitable and distinctive wrongness that lies in ourselves and our beloveds.

Degree? Check. Career? Yup. Money? In the bank. Marriage? America is single. It's divorced, under committed, and hopelessly out of touch with how to build a relationship that lasts. Women, in particular, are groomed for a life centered on career and on being fiercely independent--as though marriage and family were a nice idea, or a possible accompaniment, to an otherwise satisfying life. But if flying solo is so great, why are online dating sites a billion-dollar industry, replete with clients looking to get hitched? In How to Get Hitched (and Stay Hitched), author and marriage coach Suzanne Venker claims women need a detox from the bogus cultural narratives they've absorbed about men, sex, marriage, work and family. If you're a woman who wants a successful love life (not just a successful professional life), you're going to need a brand new roadmap. And now you have one. Here is just a sampling of the 12 steps: - Get over yourself - Find your feminine - Get a ring, not a roommate - Marry the accountant, not the artist - Know your body A call to arms, How to Get Hitched (and Stay Hitched) will ignite a much-needed debate about the misplaced priorities of the modern generation. It is the antidote women need to reject the lies they've been fed by our culture so they can build the happy, balanced lives they crave. "You have massively impacted the way I see and deal with men. Because of you, I started dating with a clear goal in mind (marriage and children) and also with discipline. At 25, this led me to my now boyfriend who soon will be my fiancé, husband, and hopefully father of my children. Thank you from the bottom of my soul for the enlightening and truthful work that you share with the world!" "The world and my own mother haven't spoken to me about any of this. Schools and the media taught me that career comes first and that I would be happy even without getting married and not having children. I thought what I was feeling wasn't quite normal until I found your work. Thank you sooo much, Suzanne!" - Lily from Australia "I love sharing Suzanne with jaded lonely girlfriends, lol." - Annie

WHAT DO EXCEPTIONAL COUPLES KNOW THAT OTHERS DON’T? If roughly fifty percent of marriages fail, what about the other fifty percent—the ones that “succeed”? Are those couples who stay together necessarily happy? No, not necessarily. In fact, many marriages that remain intact are far less than ideal. A mere seven percent are really good—in fact, exceptional. These couples have much greater than average passion, happiness, longevity, and fulfillment. And the good news is, luck has nothing to do with it. But if less-than-exceptional marriages are made up of men who are supposedly from Mars and women who are supposedly from Venus, what planet do exceptional husbands and wives come from? What are the secrets of exceptional couples . . . and what can they teach us? Marriage therapist Gregory K. Popcak believes that ways of relating employed by exceptional couples can benefit all marriages. In The Exceptional Seven Percent, he looks at the most successful couples and exposes their secrets. Each chapter examines in detail the basic characteristics of exceptional couples, including: · Developing a marital imperative—the key to unlocking all the other Exceptional Couple qualities · Setting and achieving emotional goals · Cultivating exceptional levels of fidelity, loving, service, rapport, negotiation, gratitude, joy, and sexuality Through anecdotes, analyses, exercises, quizzes, and guidance that is consistently supported by marriage research, you’ll learn what your weaknesses are and how you can begin to make positive changes. You have the power to turn your marriage into the most precious thing in your life. Why settle for anything less?