Women who have married for the first time at the age of 18 are unanimous in one thing – it was "too early" and their own opinion – “I was stupid then, I did not know life”. And guys too, in many ways in 18 still have many childish and infantile habits for serious relationships. Parents of such children are often the first to see the sharp corners in the relationships of the young and with great caution go with them to the registry office, hoping that everything just is going to work out. Both – the girl and the boy – grow up being in marriage, change a lot and become real adults. Now they are obliged to get used to new manifestations of each other, sometimes to such which were not visible at all at the beginning of their married life. This is the period at the beginning of family life after marriage, when youthful ideas about love, relationships, mutual giving to each other break down reality.
In the first years of their life together, they may realize that everything is not so simple and not as you imagined at all. And here your husband is either your assistant to smooth the corners and share the load, or he is: "Oh, I am the sickest man in the world…", – as the wonderful Karlsson said. And if in the story with Karlsson he added: "What are you worth, you promised me to be my own mother!", then your phrase to the husband doing nothing but sound with easy reproach: “What are you worth, you promised me to be the closest person!”
We promised to go with each other through life hand in hand, together experiencing the joy of happy days and sorrows. Young, with not strong enough mind and balanced forecasts for the future they refer to love so easily! They think love will help them to overcome everything. They fulfill forms in the registry office in a rush dreaming of the best future. Yes, of course love can definitely overcome everything, forgive, change the character, teach you how to ‘spend’ yourself for your partner and get a real pleasure from it. Only it is not just a guy's attraction to a girl, it is not only a desire. Such love – is a spiritual work on your consciousness, on your natural laziness and selfishness so that each of your word, movement or deal makes your beloved better. Try to find these strings in your partner in crime, perhaps they will be able to tune in unison with the true love, with your desire to build your family hearth in delightful estimates. Life shows that people begin to think about this as they grow up but certainly not when we are at the age of 18. So you also can grow up, if all the sentences does not make any sense to you.
SUCH LOVE – IS A SPIRITUAL WORK ON YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS, ON YOUR NATURAL LAZINESS AND SELFISHNESS SO THAT EACH OF YOUR WORD, MOVEMENT OR DEAL MAKES YOUR BELOVED BETTER.
Why does the age play a crucial role in this choice? Why do you think of him as an angel at 18 and closer to 30 you ‘do not have enough fresh air’ and now you would not have married him in any way? What has happened over the years? The answer is very simple – growing up and opening the ‘package’. After re-reading the book I hope that you will become more practical, analyze your current and former relationships, and become older in this issue.
It doesn't come for our mind to expect a 5 year old child to be a 10 year old, or from a 15 year old girl to be a 25 year old woman? We are waiting for the natural growth of children, when they will step by step learn the rules of behavior, what is allowed and what is not. We teach them by our own example and try to learn from others too. At this age, when the child is not yet able to think sensibly and practically himself, we have full responsibility and control over him. We do not let him stumble, get burned, ‘make a real mess of things’. But after 18 and sometimes even earlier, children begin to make their own decisions and do some stuff in which we do not have time to interfere or we are not allowed. Children do not let us because they consider themselves as already experienced persons and they have been waiting for so long to say "I will figure it out", "I know how it would be better", etc. What remains for parents? They can only try to advise but in the matter of choosing your fiancé, the probability of influence at this age is almost absent, at least in most families.
If you are 18 years old or approximately 18 today, my advice to you – do not rush to get married, do not be in a hurry because it would not be you to say a very popular phrase among divorced people in 5–10 years: "If I understood it then." It would be more logical and useful in order to reduce divorce – to allow marriage, for example, after 25 years, a kind of 25+ law. There would be of fewer mistakes. This sometimes affects not only those who say ‘marry me’ and those who say ‘I am getting married’, but also their parents. One girl's parents shared a similar situation that happened in their lives. Their daughter abruptly got married, and the parents were forced to take the credit for the wedding. After 3 months, their daughter said that she did not want to live with her husband; apparently very quickly she realized her mistake and divorced him. A year later, she got married for the second time, which means that she did not have enough time to make serious conclusions, but her parents still pay the loan with interest for the first wedding. These are the conflicts and interweaving: for the one person – getting experience from her mistakes, the other – paying for this experience. Although it is a weak argument, but still take care of your parents, please, do not do in your 18 what you need to do after growing up, at least beyond the equator of the third ten.
Should there be any standards in this matter of choosing a spouse? Do we all have to do this in an identical way, as we calculate the interest on loans, open a deposit in a bank or solve a mathematical problem "from point A to point B…"? The answer is very obvious. There should be no clear understanding of this issue.
So often there was an opinion when we talked with the girls at the stage of interviews and discussion of the topic: "Oh, and what, when I read, I will know everything and will choose the perfect husband? I wish it was so easy!"
We can confidently say: "Yes, you will choose a perfect husband for yourself with his ideal (for you) shortcomings, whom, firstly, you will know from A to Z, secondly, you will be morally ready for all his disadvantages, and the most important part – you have to try to raise the ideal man because it is most likely that the ‘ideal ones’ are few and they all are in the "red book".
Currently the statistics on marriages for women at 18 years has declined, for men it is less than 1 %. The highest percentage have girls who get married at the age of 20–25 years – about 40 %, i.e. about half of all girls try not to miss their chance and create a family in the first years of adult life – first years at work or as university students. Another 30 % – under the age of 30, and after 30 – every tenth person. So it turns out, you can not sit too long and wait too much. A hasty decision is also not good because your own world perception should be formed and it takes a time. Of course, there are also balanced marriages at an early age, for example – due to traditions, but if the situation allows then take 25 years as a reference point. It is not for nothing that statistics confirm our fears – that about 40 % of couples divorce due to the fact that at one time they made a hasty decision, registering a marriage. It also often happens under the pressure from relatives. Once again, we highlight – HASTY decision! So we should prepare according to the plan without ‘rush’.
Please, remember the statistics of divorces, it is worth repeating that those women who hurried to get married in their early ages in 60 % of cases do not marry anymore. So, every third «divorcee» will remain alone. This means that for every third woman the state "in search" will be for the rest of their lives. Do you want to be in such a long and fruitless search? And the search itself is not as terrible as the lack of implementation of women in all its manifestations. And what about the prospect of earning money and raising a child alone? What if there are two or three children? Every uncomplicated female fate shaves off all the girl's dreams of love and well-being of family everyday life. Let the statistics be your inhibiting argument for an early or hasty marriage.
Do not forget that after 35 years, the cause of female loneliness is a clear lack of men due to high mortality. And the other problem is that there is almost 15 million «army» of drug addicts, alcoholics, gambling addicts. They will skillfully hide their shortcomings, say that it is an accident or it was deep in the past. And a few million girls will believe them, marry them and have children with them…
People just should not be allowed to go in the registry office (even to submit an application) in case they had never read such books. If I was there, I would give them a special, carefully prepared, test with questions right on the doorstep. How much do they know about each other? How many weaknesses have they noticed? What do they expect from each other? And if a young couple of two loving hearts scores few points – marching orders! They cannot go into. They cannot make such mistakes. Of course, it sounds categorically, but the reason for this – are endless successive failures and setbacks in choosing a husband.
Negative results of passing such a test would help young people at least to take a detached view. Whom have they chosen as a future husband or wife? Maybe it is not right decision at all or it is still very, very early to get married!
ONE OF THE GOALS OF THE BOOK IS TO GIVE YOUNG PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT THE FUTURE SPOUSE, TO SEE HIM, TO UNDERSTAND HIS "INNER FILLING" AS FULLY AS POSSIBLE AT THIS POINT IN LIFE.
One of the goals of the book is to give young people the opportunity to take a fresh look at the future spouse, to see him, to understand his "inner filling" as fully as possible at this point in life. After all, there may be new habits and worse manifestations. Few people get better as the years go by because self-improvement is a real hard work to do. So that "it would not be tormenting painfully" for the unhappily lived years, so that your risks with this person were clear – what can he do that is not acceptable to you, in what ways are you not the same as he or she and what will you have to endure year after year. Knowing your risks, knowing what you have to put up with, – it would be much easier to take this path. Then you would not be strongly surprised, have a temper tantrum, pose the question point – black, complain to your friends or parents, and seek consolidation in wine, saying to yourself: "I wish I knew what he is like." Forewarned is forearmed for family life!
An even greater aim of our narration is to talk to adults who know life, who have experienced themselves in the marriage or in more marriages. The message is addressed to them – children need to be taught in the matter of choosing a second half. Adults have to talk with them, explain many issues, discuss their beliefs and hopes, and shape their views together, wisely directing from situation to situation. The analysis of current situations in the child's personal life or situations in the family is a great material for learning. For example, friendship with boys. Please try to discuss how the daughter sees her friend, how she evaluates his actions, whether she sees the reasons for such actions, especially bad or half-hearted. Even if your adult, personal experience in a relationship or marriage is negative or has brought disappointments, tell your child why and how did you make mistakes, why did you make wrong decisions, and what happened. The negative experience of parents will be the part which the child will try to avoid in his own life, especially if you talk about it and have a confidential communication with the child. Although in the interview, which we will soon move on to, there is an example of a daughter repeating the mistakes of a mother with an early pregnancy.
Can we imagine that parents would not teach a child to treat older people with respect? Just imagine for a second: a child, not knowing what to do, do not understand the situation when he or she sees an elderly person in a transport or other place, he/she just sits quietly, does not stand up for an old woman, for example. After all, the understanding that it is necessary to stand up, appears precisely because of a set of measures and actions in childhood. Parents always talk about this and make sure that the child does not violate these established norms in relation to older people. They set an example by their own actions, politeness to them in conversations, etc. The child absorbs this and acts in adult life in the same way independently. As a result, there is education – and also there is a result at its core.
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED FOR FAMILY LIFE!
Now let's switch over to education, which is not yet available or sometimes it is practically absent. And if parents do not teach their children, then there is no result. How to find out what the person who is next to you is like, especially when you are in a relationship with him/ her? Parents often cannot teach, because no one has prepared them. Nobody told them they need to analyze every detail. What kind of things do you have to know in the pre-wedding relationship with the future spouse? Parents often have only their own negative experience. And do you know how many cases of several marriages and divorces are there? This shows the thorny path and the lack of the same set of measures that you need to teach your child. These divorces reveal clearly unacceptable character traits, habits, and shortcomings of the parent's own upbringing in order to maintain a happy family construction.
Young people need to understand this «science» before the wedding. They still have a chance to avoid mistakes, to part with their possible dangerous future, where divorces kill the naivety and euphoria of falling in love. And it will be also useful for the older generation to enroll and finish this life university for the sake of the happiness of their children and grandchildren.
In a good continuation of these questions, the child's upbringing should be boiled down to systematic conversations, analysis of actions, their reasons, criteria for family happiness, and the ability to evaluate a person in a relationship in a balanced way, compiling information of what is not even always visible or deliberately hidden. Such education, as well as its other directions, will be more successful if parents take care of each other every day. If parents are able to drop some voltage across their communication, sacrifice themselves for the sake of the second half in everything and in all the little things. It is noted that if you do not analyze with the child these beautiful manifestations of love in the form of parents' care for each other, or vice versa, negative manifestations, such moments may remain unnoticed until the child grows up and begins to understand the reasons for things. But it can take years, decades, in which your child will get his or her bumps and abrasions.
Funny stories are also suitable, especially if they remain in the memory as a stopper or a skew in the relationship. One of these cases occurred in Ukraine, when the mother of an 18-year-old girl tried to control every step of her daughter and exclude the continuation, in which only the skirt is mentioned from the girl's clothing (there is a proverb in Russia – to bring a child in the skirt/hem – which means to have a child before the wedding, it is always used in the negative meaning). The girl was going on a first date and could not help but tell her mother about it. And guess what! Her mother made the "only right" decision – she went on a date with her daughter! She wanted to look at the gentleman and to ask him to return her daughter home by the appointed time. The guy had no choice; he clearly remembered the eyes of the future potential mother-in-law, her possible reaction which would be like thunderstorm and lightning, if he was suddenly late for the appointed hour to bring the girl home. The hypothetical mother-in-law took another step on the next date, when the boy came for the girl to her home. She forced the guy to write an acknowledgement that he agrees to return her daughter by the time and not a minute later. The guy again lost the chance of choice, because he wrote and got a chance to date a girl, even under the hood of his mother-in-law. Their relationship soon ended when the guy casually told his mother that he had to write receipts for dates, and his mother was able to explain to him what lies ahead if the hypothetical mother-in-law becomes just a mother-in-law. It is funny and amusing, but when such ridiculous situations occur in real life, immediately there will be a clear assessment in the head – where and how quickly to run in similar or close cases.
One of the options for such communication with a child you will see a little later in communication with a first-grader. From an early age children should be taught how to pay attention to the people around them. Children should know how to choose a friend. It would be a good school of life. They will figure out why this or that girl or boy is behaving like this. And this makes sense only when children care about their toys, when they speak to us openly.
How can you teach a first-grade girl to understand which boy is next to her? Just ask her why she chose him over the others. Her answers will show exactly the reasons, and if she doesn't know why, then you need to ask the simplest leading questions and teach her to identify the reasons that attracted her to him, to friendship with him. Then you need to pitch upon each argument and reason. The next stage is the friend’s actions: whether he cares about one particular girl, whether he shows affection. Is he at least constant in his choice? Or he is a good friend of all girls in the group? Does not he offend girls or even beat? Is he interested in something? How does he speak to his parents? Is he obedient? Is he rude? Is he ready to give the last candy you?
Then you should teach your children how to juxtapose actions and words, so that the child could see the roots of selfishness, stupidity, greed, pride, and other points of weakness. On this thread of juxtaposition, bright and attractive beads will be made of kindness, responsiveness, dedication and other attractive aspects of human manifestation. Having formed in the child’s mind the habit of thinking and contemplating, looking into the roots of actions, reaching for those who will not betray, who are ready to live for the sake of another, the transition phase into adulthood will not be so "terrible".
I am convinced that most if not all of my readers are ready to challenge these statements, replace them with their own, expand the list or argue with the accuracy of the wording. For example, is it possible to calculate these risks? Is it possible to fully understand the person who is in front of you in the rose and candy stage? Who by the age of 18 is ready to listen to this and openly talk about it? People of age can say: "Remember yourself, did you listen to someone in your 18–20 years? And anyway, you don't need to teach me, I will figure it out myself!"
Here is one of these answers:
"This begs the question: why did you decide that you are smarter than anyone and that you can teach someone? Everyone has their own life and their own mistakes, and perhaps only after going through them, a person will understand the most important thing and what he needs."
Firstly, I will answer the last question – about 18–20 years. I didn't listen to anyone in my 18-s, because there was no one around who could tell me some useful information. There was nobody whom I could listen to, to whom I could openly talk about my ideas, how and whom to choose, which of the girls is more interesting to me and why I like her… We will get answers to the other questions in the future chapters through examples and descriptions. But the best way is when the reader will notice the logic himself or herself and will be able to foresee possible scenarios for development.
So, are you ready for family life today? You think so? In most cases – this is not the right answer, especially if you are not 30 yet, and you have not had to reason like this. Why?
Now please try to read carefully paragraph after paragraph and learn a new kind of art – the art of foreseeing your perspective in 5, 10 or more years in a relationship with the person you are in love now. Is this at least important or even possible? I am sure that the answer is YES. This way of thinking – like who is he, why does he do it, and how is he going to change his thoughts, actions, his behavior in the relationship with me over time – is not developed anywhere. Nobody told us about such things, we did not hear such examples. Sometimes we did not hear about it so often that we can think for ourselves.