Is it possible that the divorce picture is not as bad as it seems?

Not necessarily. While some studies seem to indicate that almost half of all marriages end in divorce, other studies do not come to quite such a drastic conclusion. On the other hand, a statistic of 40 percent of all marriages ending in divorce is not something to be proud of, either.

The most scientific studies appear to show that if couples get past a certain point and endure for a certain period of time, the odds of staying married improve greatly. Couples who have been married for a long time very often cannot tell where one of them begins and the other ends. They become like old shoes to each other -- worn and beaten but much too comfortable to throw away. As the years pass, they mellow. A good marriage, like wine, improves with age.