Ramona Zabriskie - Wife for Life: The Power to Succeed in Marriage: A Womans Inspirational Guide to a Grand, Lifelong Marriage

WIFE FOR LIFE: THE POWER TO SUCCEED IN MARRIAGE.

Copyright 2013 by Ramona Zabriskie. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systemsexcept in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviewswithout express written permission from the author. For information please address Wife for Life, PO Box 1113, Ridgefield WA 98642.

Cover design by Grant Zabriskie. Cover photography Nikolai Sorokin | Dreamstime.com.

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint quotations from the following material. These publishers have asked for particular mention on our copyright page:

The Mystery of Marriage: Meditations on the Miracle. Copyright 1996 by Mike Mason. WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.. | Madame Curie: A Biography by Eve Curie, translated by Vincent Sheean. Copyright 1937 by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.. | What Could He Be Thinking? How a Mans Mind Really Works. Copyright 2003 by Michael Gurian, St Martins Griffin. | Love & Respect: The Love She Most Deserves, The Respect He Desperately Needs. Copyright 2004 by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. Thomas Nelson, Inc.. | The Science of Trust: Emotional Attunement for Couples. Copyright 2011 by John M. Gottman. W.W. Norton & Company. | Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, translated by Lydia Davis. Copyright by Penguin Group (USA) Inc..

All publications quoted or referenced in this e-book are cited in-text or listed on the Books Cited page. Any third party use of this material is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to the copyright holders.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the author is not engaged in rendering legal or professional therapy service. If expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. For more on the authors intent, please see Preface.

For further information and supports or to email the author, go to http://www.wifeforlifebook.com/

eISBN: 9781626757967

Dedicated to the boy who became the man of my dreams.

A WOMANS INSPIRATIONAL GUIDE TO A GRAND, LIFELONG MARRIAGE

Reviews

I am happy to report that I gelled with this book the moment I started reading. I feel it is beautifully written; almost written in the style of a novel to keep the reader captivated but at the same time radiating truth to enlighten and direct the reader. After reading only the first four chapters I experienced what I can only describe as a light bulb momentmy whole perspective changed! Married 9 years

Everything makes complete and utter sense to me now. Never have I read a book where there is so much content I can relate to. I feel that you completely and utterly know my circumstance even though we have never met. Contemplating divorce until Wife for Life

I am EXCITED about the much clearer vision Ive been given of what to expect from marriage and a man and also from myself! How few examples the media ever portrays of a successful marriage, other than courtship and wedding, means these ideas and portrayals are quite a revelation. Single never-married

Totally doable and natural and so romantic. Your book clarifies for me as to why I am marrying. What youve done is given a voice and an explanation to what many intuitively know is true but have yet to articulate so wonderfully! Engaged to be married

Id just like to report that our relationship is going from strength to strength. I cannot believe the turnaround. We are both far happier people TOGETHER in our marriage. We havent felt like this for a long time. Im even starting to love myself now and have gained so much more confidence. Married 9 years

So many of the words in this book are incredibly beautiful to me; the second I read them I have to stop and repeat them a couple times in my head. I absolutely love this journey. Married 12 years

Thank you for your vision, for your conviction, and for helping me see new possibilities, new ideas, and for giving me hope in more ways than I thought possible. Married 15 years

This is definitely a book I needed to read! I do not intend to repeat the same mistakes I made with marriage #1, (now humbly realizing that so many were of my own making!) I wish Id known then what I learned just now Divorced and single

This is an absolute work of art in imagery and languagetotally inspired. Its made me laugh, cry, sigh, and not want to put it down! Married 4 years

I absolutely fell in love with this book! It elated me to think that women, by reading this, might understand a mans universe. I cant stop reading! Ex-husband, divorced twice

Love Love LOVE! This is SO wonderful! A masterpiece! Married 8 years

INTRODUCTION

Love views life from the point of view of eternity.

Greek proverb

I have always thought it was curious how two peopletwo such different creatures as a man and a woman, who are sometimes wildly different in personalitycan behave like magnets, actually feeling drawn together because they are opposites. Philosophers, scientists, playwrights, and poets have tried to crack the code of attraction for a long time, and I think we wives should join them. The optimum time to beef up your wifely know-how is before you get married and during the first few years of marriage, but there is also much to be learned even after you have considerable experience. Whenever you choose to start your study, if you will focus on defining why you want to be a wife and then learn as much as you can about how to be a wife, and what being his wife is all aboutand not just suppose thatpoof!love and happiness will appear at the snap of your fingers or a wave of your wandthen you will have a much better chance of cracking the code; of creating real magic: a grand marriage that is solid and stunning forever.

Forever? I hope that word doesnt bother you. I know some people think its about as real as magic. Its too fantastic, they say, youre overly ambitious, hardly anyone believes in it anymore. But I believe you have to believe if you are going to invest your whole soul into a lifelong partnership. Enduring lovers have faith in foreverin the constant, endless nature of their love, if not their bodies. Whether figurative (as in your legacy lasting generations), or literal (as in living together in an afterlife), believing in forever is essential if you want to take your marriage from good, to great, to grand. So, although it may take a little mind-bending, the first thing you have to come to terms with when incorporating forever into your relationship is how way-way-way far away it is.

Or is it?

Brace yourself for the here-and-now truth: forever is happening even as we speak.

Each one of your days is a piece in your forever. Imagine how your marriage would be affected years from now if you and your husband acted as though your forever unfolded with every act, with every choice. A slight move in one direction today and you will be heading towards forever. Turn a tad the other way, and you will eventually run smack dab into temporary. The first road brings you closer and closer to the kind of intimacy you long for: holding your loved ones hand with your hearts in sync, looking out over the world and feeling safe. Follow the other path, however, and instead of creating a shared view of life, you will eventually hit a dead-end: just you, all alone, with nothing but a messy pile of what-could-have-beens.