Love between spouses is the foundation for happiness, serenity, and a sense of security. It fills life with warmth, compassion, and tenderness, transforming routine into meaningful connection. Love even benefits heart health. However, despite love’s presence, many marriages fail due to lack of understanding, poor communication, absence of trust, or external pressures such as financial stress. Love alone is not sufficient to sustain a relationship—it is merely the first pillar, requiring other essential components for the marriage to thrive.
In this context, Sayidaty spoke with family relationship consultant Salma Al-Batrawi to explain why relationships sometimes fail despite the presence of genuine affection.
Is Love a Guarantee for Marital Success?
Salma Al-Batrawi points out that the common belief that love alone ensures a successful relationship is one of the biggest emotional myths. Love is an inspiring energy, but it is not a system for managing life. A successful marriage balances emotion and reason. Relationships built purely on emotional intensity often collapse when faced with daily conflicts, life pressures, or monotonous routines.
Core Reasons Love Can Fail
Weak Communication
Failure often begins when partners cannot express their feelings clearly. Silence can build walls, eroding connection. Misunderstandings, sarcasm, contempt, constant criticism, or defensiveness destroy dialogue and create emotional distance.Lack of Trust and Emotional Security
Without trust, love becomes a source of anxiety rather than comfort. Emotional security means feeling safe enough to share vulnerabilities without fear of exploitation. Absence of this foundation gradually undermines affection.Incompatibility and Differing Values
Love unites hearts, but compatibility in values, life goals, and communication styles is what sustains daily life. Differences in finances, parenting, career priorities, or personalities can create irreconcilable conflicts.Control and Domination
Attempts to control or change a partner, excessive jealousy, conditional love, or disregard for personal boundaries stifle freedom and erode emotional closeness. Love requires acceptance, not manipulation.Unrealistic Expectations
Expecting perfection, constant harmony, or mind-reading leads to chronic disappointment. Successful relationships require realistic expectations and acceptance of human imperfections.Neglect and Busy Lifestyles
Prioritizing work, friends, or family over the spouse weakens the bond, gradually transforming love into emotional distance.Past Traumas
Previous emotional wounds, abuse, or betrayal can hinder trust and create fear of commitment in the present relationship.Lack of the “Art of Love”
Sustaining love requires conscious action, humility, courage, and effort. Without intentional nurturing, love fades despite strong initial feelings.Financial and Life Pressures
Money problems and external stressors create tension, insecurity, and frequent disputes over priorities and goals.Monotony and Routine
Lack of novelty, separate sleeping arrangements, repetitive routines, and avoidance of direct communication foster boredom and weaken emotional connection.Interference from Others
Involvement of family, friends, or social circles can disrupt trust, communication, and privacy, leading to conflicts that undermine the relationship.Lack of Support
Emotional and practical support is crucial. Absence of support, attention, and care creates feelings of insignificance, gradually extinguishing love.
The Five Key Drivers of a Lasting Relationship
According to Al-Batrawi, love is only the fuel of a relationship. For it to run smoothly, it needs strong engines:
Shared values and aligned life goals
Effective communication skills
Trust and emotional security
Commitment and continuous effort
Emotional maturity
A successful marriage requires conscious nurturing, mutual respect, daily appreciation, and practical cooperation. Without these foundations, even the strongest love will eventually collapse under life’s pressures.
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