"Most people never experience the highest dimensions of love because they limit it with too many strings and expectations," she explained. "Marriage deserves--and delivers--the best that love has to offer, if only people understand that true love is unconditional."
Her success in helping marriages stems, in part, from her willingness to open up her own private life in order to connect with others. Lori and her husband Scott have been married for over 27 years. Their marriage has weathered nearly every threat that assails marriages today, including the death of a child, financial crises, health problems, in-law troubles, personality differences, religious differences, addiction, and more. Those who know them are amazed that their love for each other only grows.
“Ours isn’t any different from others´, except that after each trial, we learned something about ourselves,” she said. “It takes humility to see that there is always an opportunity to become a better person and that we change only ourselves to affect the other person. Our hearts matured into being able to love unconditionally. And yours can, too.”
"It isn´t always easy. Our marriage is not perfect. We fight, we argue but when faced with the option of divorce, we always choose to stay because living without each other would be a sad and bleak life. I say marriage forces people to grow or go. We choose growth--and our love grows, too."
High divorce and live-in rates seem to indicate that traditional marriage, as a religious and social contract, is moving toward obsolescence. But Phillips maintains that marriage, as a commitment between devoted partners who vow to be together for life, will endure as long as love exists. “Lovers want some way of bonding together, a formal declaration to the world, to announce that they belong together.”
In addition to writing about marriage, Lori’s essays and articles have appeared on DivineCaroline.com, Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and the Orange County Register, and she is a former editor of two specialty magazines and the Japanese Food and Living Simply sites at BellaOnline.com. She currently edits the Bellaonline Dreams site. Her other interests include food and cooking, gardens, yoga, dream interpretation, water, nature, and spirituality.
Follow her on Twitter to receive a Daily Marriage Boost!
(at sign)BellaMarriage
Her book, "Stop being a b-tch! You´re ruining your relationship!" is a two-in-one book. The reverse flip title is "Stop being an a-hole! You´re ruining your relationship!" Available in Kindle format, too.
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