I Don't Believe in Happily Ever Afters

Almost every child who has heard a fairytale has heard of the final phrase, "And they lived happily ever after."  Little girls love this phrase.  They want to believe in the unicorns, the pixie dust, the rainbows of the "happily ever after," part of the relationship.

...Until they grow up to see the ugliness of the relationship, too.  See, I don't believe in, "happily ever after."  I don't believe in unicorns, pixie dust, and rainbows of a relationship.  I believe in hard work, pain, growth, tears, arguments, miscommunication, humility, honesty, and apologies.  You are going to fight with your spouse.  You are going to be mad.  You are going to have miscommunication.  It is just a matter of how to handle it.  Are you going to yell, stomp your feet, and act like a three year old with a temper tantrum?  Or are you going to be calm, rational, and open to what your spouse has to say, and how they feel?  And then, are you going to apologize? 

This picture pretty much sums it up.  IF I were to believe in, "happily ever after," this would be it.