By Consolata K. Kiara

It is the wish of every couple to have a stable, successful, and happy marriage.  However, marital problems will often arise, requiring the determination of both partners to solve.

The purpose of pre-marriage counseling and preparation is to help couples handle marital problems effectively, as well as to work out ways and means to a successful and happy marriage.

It is important to recognize that people come from different backgrounds. Each one grows up in an entirely separate environment – physically, spiritually, psychologically, emotionally and culturally. The effect of these unique backgrounds has a lot of bearing in how people behave and interact with spouses and the new families.

Many external factors influence marriages. These include friends, politics, culture and cross-cultural boundaries and technology.

Friends’ Influences

 In dealing with friends, once married, one needs to make certain considerations regarding behaviour, time management, gender issues and professions.

Stories have been narrated world over on betrayal on marriages by close friends out of comparisons, jealousies and so on.

An example is a case where a man, married for about eight years, sought advice from a colleague and a childhood friend who had been married for ten years.

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