There’s pretty good scientific evidence that romantic love dies at about the 5-7 year mark for a couple. Evolutionary biologists have theorized this would be about the point in time our caveman ancestors would have raised a child together “successfully”, as a 7 year old can run, hide from predators, and pick food from plants and trees on their own.
Obviously there are couples that make their relationship work far past six years. It takes skilled communication, conflict resolution skills, and compromise. We all know the divorce statistics. We also all know couples who are together but not necessarily happy; the sort of couples who file the divorce papers the day their youngest child graduates from high school. There are plenty of couples out there who don’t get divorced that have dealt with infidelity or serious financial deceit.
In short, marriage is hard. It’s a big part of why me and the vast majority of our friends have been extremely gunshy about marriage. Lifelong monogamy just isn’t something humans are naturally very good at. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I am saying it’s all the more impressive by those who accomplish it.
