Raj9836847416, 50

Perhaps the key to a successful marriage lies in understanding the metaphysics of it, along with its evolution and a keener understanding of what commitment truly is.

We have moved from a time when marriage was important just for our sheer survival. The first evolution of marriage was meant to aid in continuing our species in a somewhat safer environment from that of a lone woman being impregnated by a passerby, then left to give birth by herself in a nest of leaves under a bush somewhere. Both the woman and child were in extreme danger, vulnerable to whatever came along, be it weather, beast or another human. Meanwhile, the lone passerby who impregnated the woman may have met his demise as well, by running into another, stronger human.

Together, marriage gave couples back then a better chance of making it through at least to their children's independence. Together they found shelter, fire, food and water - and defense against others.

From there we moved into marriages of convenience. These were arranged marriages, from the poorest of society to the highest bred. The poor married not only to combine together whatever meager ownings they had, but also to connect with whomever was most convenient geographically. The highest bred arranged marriages to combine wealth, landholdings and armies.

Love in these marriages was not even considered. Oh, it was an asset some thought in the wealthy set, while most others thought it a hinderence to accidently fall in love with one's wife. There were mistresses for that sort of thing. Here and there in history one finds an arranged marriage where love successfully existed, such as that which developed between King George III and his German wife. But such marrieages were novelties of sorts, rare enough to become fodder for romantic novels.

The solid idea of love between married couples began creeping, albeit hesitantly, into the mind of society along about the mid-1800's. With it came a hollow restlessness, an empti