Love and Marriage
It is a big difference in today’s society that people are expected to get to know someone and become intimately familiar with them before deciding whether or not to stay with them, rather than being committed to another (usually through arranged marriages) with limited knowledge of them; left to use their marriage to get to know one another better.
Freedom of choice is an important, relatively new factor, but to an extent, the high commitment level so early on the relationship provided a baseline acceptance, like built-in trust in the partnership which allowed partners to expose their true nature earlier and stimulate bonding (i.e. why hide things about yourself when your partner will inevitably discover them and still be powerless to avoid them?).
Excepting extreme cases, this semi-forced cohabitation provided an opportunity to see the best of the humanity in the partnership, and to spend time cultivating and deepening appreciation for one another rather than questioning the validity of the pairing itself: a change in objective that, I believe would lead to more successful marriages.
Fortunately, this can still be applied to a modern, freedom-of-choice context. If/when you find someone that you love enough to make a lifetime commitment to, who loves you just as much if not more (but certainly not less), you owe it to yourself and your partner to spend your lives increasing appreciation and love for one another, through good times and bad, adding your light to the Universe. Trust your heart to lead you, and follow it forever.
C.G.