Making a relationship work well and last long can seem like mission impossible. And yet, there are some clever folks with incredible success stories. If you’re like the majority of people out there, you are dying to know: HOW DO THEY DO IT?

Here are stories and advice from three happy couples who love each other unconditionally:

• Mark and Dana are in their mid fifties and have been married for twenty four years. After all this time they are still married and they are still happy, so how do they do it? Dana says that for her, it all comes down to respect. Over time, so much changes, but if you have a deep respect for your partner, none of these changes will pull you apart. It’s great to show that you respect your partner, but it isn’t enough, you actually have to genuinely feel it in your heart. That’s the glue that holds us together. 
   
• Robbie and Kayla are thirty-eight and thirty-six respectively, and have been married for eight years. Though their honeymoon period ended long ago, they still love spending time together and feel more and more intimate with every year that passes. So how do they do it? Robbie believes the key to their success is that they married each other for the right reasons. Robbie was married once before when he was only twenty-three, and says he proposed largely because he was Catholic and raised to believe sex should only be between a married couple. He soon learned that this was not the right reason to get married. It was hurried and thoughtless, so he never had time to figure out if he loved this person before tying the knot! He now says that while there are an endless number of wrong reasons to get married, there are two major right ones: you admire each other, and you love spending time together. 
   
• Samantha and Jackson have been married for twenty years and are described by their friends and family as hopeless romantics. At year twenty, they report that their romance is only just getting started. So how do they do it? Samantha talks about the importance of growth and adaptation, comparing their relationship to evolution. If a species is to survive over the centuries and millennia, it has to be able to adapt to the changes of its surroundings and its needs. Similarly, Samantha and Jackson succeed together because they’re willing to make changes and adjustments as their circumstances change. Change and growth is both good and inevitable, so they strive to grow together, instead of grow apart. For example, when Samantha’s political view began to change, Jackson changed himself so that he could grow alongside her. That isn’t to say he changed his political views to match her new ones, but instead he changed himself into being the kind of man who could support his wife’s beliefs even if he didn’t agree with them. 
   

So what can we learn from these successful couples? To make a happy and healthy relationship last a lifetime, you need:

1. Mutual respect
2. Admiration and enjoyment of each other’s company
3. Willingness to grow together???????

???????If you think about it, when mixed together, these ingredients may be the elusive answer to one of life’s biggest questions: what is true love?