The relationship between the wife and the husband can be very complicated to say the least.
Failure in understanding the marriage relationship causes many marriages to break up in our society.
It is very important for at least one, but preferably both partners in a marriage to understand how the relationship is supposed to work.
This understanding will give the marriage the best chance of long-term success.
The biggest key to understanding the marriage relationship is a realization of the differences between men and women.
Of course, there are clear differences physically, but often we overlook the fact that men and women are different mentally and emotionally as well.
One of the major differences that faces the wife-husband relationship is the way men and women solve problems.
Men and women approach problem resolution from entirely different angles.
When women are faced with a problem, they like to talk about it (often at great length), with other people.
They will get together with friends and discuss their problems and solicit advice and input.
The reason women like to talk at length about their problems is that this is the primary way they solve the problem.
This is very hard for men to understand, because men just think that women like to go too in-depth focusing on the problem.
What they don't understand is that women are simply exploring all the angles and their feelings about each angle, in hopes that a solution will appear.
On the other hand, men are far less likely to talk about their problems.
Instead, they usually keep it to themselves and think about how they are going to solve it.
When they have finally figured out a solution, then they may start to discuss the problem with others, along with their solution to the problem.
When it comes to the relationship between a husband and a wife, this difference can become a major stumbling block.
He might get tired of her talking on and on about a problem she has, not realizing that this is her way of arriving at a solution.
By the same token, she may think he is uncaring and insensitive about something, simply because he's not talking about it.
The reality is he's thinking about it constantly, he's just not ready to discuss it until he's figured out the solution.
Another major difference in understanding the marriage relationship is that women sometimes discuss things they don't really want advice about or help with.
They are just wanting to get something off their chest.
This is a foreign concept to most men.
When men talk about something, they tend to have a purpose in doing so (unless it's talking sports with other guys).
Usually, when men talk about a problem, it is for the purpose of solving it.
Most men can't understand why you would just want to talk about something without saying or doing anything to resolve it.
So, the way this plays out in a marriage  is that the man will listen to what the woman says, then quickly state a solution to her problem.
He thinks he's done his job and is done with the conversation.
To his surprise, his wife yells at him for "not listening" and "not trying to understand" her feelings.
Granted, this is a generalization and does not apply in every case, but most of the time it's true.
Most men prefer less talk and most women prefer more talk.
And, most women at times like to talk just to vent, not necessarily to resolve a problem.
So, next time you are tempted to react naturally during a conversation about a particular problem, stop yourself and take some time to understand where your partner is coming from.
This will go a long way in understanding the marriage relationship.