All marriages start with a little bit of fairy tale hope. True love, soul mates, happily ever after. And that's a good thing. Because if you don't believe it's forever, it's doomed before it begins. That's what I believe anyway.

But sometime after the, "I now pronounce you husband and wife," reality sets in.

Maybe he smashes wedding cake in her face when he promised he wouldn't.

Maybe she says something cutting on the honeymoon.

And when the wedding dress has been cleaned and put away, the presents are open and have to be cleaned/laundered/washed/dusted/maintained, and the argument over dusting or vacuuming first has been settled, it becomes apparent that the happily ever after... ain't so happy.

And there's a choice: Give up or step up.

We stepped up. Many couples do. Some step up for a time, then they forget that commitment and they give up. Sometimes the giving up comes after a year or five or thirty.

I recently read an article that said the dissatisfaction that used to be called "The Seven-Year Itch," is now occurring after five years.

We don't only nuke our food, now we nuke our marriages.

If you're thinking of giving up, don't. Trying stepping up. It's hard. It's messy. It's exhausting. But it's worth it.