The M.Guy Tweet, Week of February 8, 2015

1. Be There for a Friend’s Relationship Crisis, But Don’t Give Advice, Wall Street Journal
The most important skill for marital first responders is listening, Dr. Doherty says. . . Refrain from jumping to a conclusion, and remember: You are hearing just one side of the story.

2. How to Fight with Your Spouse Without Ruining Your Marriage, in 9 Steps, Washington Post
It’s never too late to apologize. By which I mean, when it’s obviously far too late for saying sorry to do any good at all, you still should.

3. To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This, The New York Times
But despite all this, I’ve begun to think love is a more pliable thing than we make it out to be. Arthur Aron’s study taught me that it’s possible — simple, even — to generate trust and intimacy, the feelings love needs to thrive.

4. Taking Risks in Love, The New York Times
The second thing love requires is mindfulness — pure focus, and total engagement in the current activity. “While washing the dishes,” the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh teaches, “one should only be washing the dishes.”

5. Falling Marriage Rates Reveal Economic Fault Lines, The New York Times
In their analysis of census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data, they concluded that if married households today equaled the numbers seen in 1980, “the growth in median income of families with children would be 44 percent higher.”

6. Does Marriage Make You Happier?, Newsweek
Children born outside of marriage are roughly five times more likely to be poor compared to their peers in married-parent homes and are at risk for other negative outcomes.

7. How to Revive the American Dream In Blue-Collar America, Real Clear Markets
This same study finds that 37 percent of the decline in men's employment since the 1970s can be linked to declining marriage rates.

For more, see here.