Love Don’t Mean A Thing

We can’t live on love alone. Those tender feelings won’t fix your fiance’s finances, end your hottie’s cigarette habit (and your disapproval of it) or that nagging age gap between you two. In the early dawn of a relationship, passion might obscure these issues but in the long run, opposite (smokers-non-smokers, savvy v. scattered brained money attitudes, young babe and the older guy/gal matches) pairings do not work. That’s the argument put forth by ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It?’ a study conducted by the Australian National University. Researchers followed the progress of 2,500 married and cohabiting couples for a seven-year period to ascertain what keeps people together and what pulls them apart. It’s full of interesting observations and might explain the end of your last relationship more logically than ever. Money, children and bad habits feature heavily. And having done it all before makes no difference on a person’s ability to make a relationship work the next time around. The study found that “partners who are on their second or third marriage are 90 percent more likely to separate than spouses who are both in their first marriage.” What do you think? Does experience matter? Do opposites attract? Can you date a smoker/drinker if you don’t yourself indulge?