"Science Says Lasting Relationships Come Down To 2 Basic Traits"
http://www.businessinsider.com/lasting-relationships-rely-on-2-traits-2014-11
It's always funny to me when "science" catches up to the Bible. We in the western world think we have to apply the scientific method to everything before we can establish whether or not it is true.
This article, however, is quite wonderful. For the skeptics, it has all the statistical data you need to believe it. For the practical, it provides all the information you need to start practicing healthy relationship tools today. It is rather long, though, so I'll give you the synopsis here.
Kindness and generosity are the fundamental components of a lasting relationship, especially when it comes to marriage. Though any given day, couples make what psychologist John Gottman calls "bids" for their partners attention, affection and affirmation. The response given to the bid can be generous and kind, or it can be harsh and cold. Those who respond to their partner's bids with kindness foster a healthy and safe environment for the relationship, causing it to endure through the years. They "turn toward" their partner. Those who respond to their partner's bids with coldness have "turned away" from their partner, and they foster an environment of anxiety and fear. These relationships either cause the couple to be eternally miserable or the relationship fails completely.
I found this article to be very helpful in my marriage, and it kept me from running my own experiments XD
~Susan
