Why marriage is hard?

Marriage is a beautiful relationship and commitment that some people would like to attain in their lives.  While marriages can be such a beautiful relationship to experience, they can also be really hard.  One logical reason why marriage is hard is simply that it is a long-term relationship.  A long-term relationship with anything or anyone will naturally have some highs but also have some lows.  For example, a career is a long-term relationship with a job, and there are plenty of low moments in one’s job.  Accepting this fact about marriage can help it be easier to work through the low times.  When someone believes that marriage will be full of highs and is not expecting any lows, that can be really hard to deal with as the lows naturally happen.  

One aspect of marriages that can be nice but also hard is the partnership aspect.  Life partners are naturally going to disagree with certain things throughout their relationship.  Whether it be roommate-related issues since you two live together or intense financial issues, the disagreements around these types of things can be hard to navigate, there are a lot of emotions tied to our finances, our homes, our values, etc., so when there are arguments around those, that can be really intense to experience.  In fact, those reasons are the number cause for divorce, so it is obviously something difficult in a marriage. 

Something that can be challenging in marriage is the simple fact that the grass is often greener on the other side.  When things get rough in a marriage, it can be easy to think about the freedoms of being single and feel as though those are better.  The long-term commitment of marriage can get somewhat stale at times, making the idea of something new really desirable.  Also, plenty of societal influences can pressure people to feel as though marriage is not worth it to them.  With divorce rates at an all-time high, it can be easy to see some of those options as more desirable when you are in a tough spot in your marriage.