Though its initial spark might be as simple as lighting a match, maintaining a relationship is a complex endeavor requiring effort and attention. Using a bow, string and spindle stick to make fire is not easy, and neither is keeping a relationship alive.

Happy ever after is possible after all -- if we tally the reasons for it in one another's eyes. And remember why we started to keep that tally. And remember to keep on doing so. And remember to remember.

In his book Play, psychiatrist Stewart Brown says that play is key to keeping relationships from hardening into drudgery. But once you're coupled up and having regular discussions about who did the dishes last, play may not come as easily.

Paul Simon's song "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" may come to mind here, but I'm referring to a different kind of "leaving": Departing from how couples typically relate to each other in day-to-day life -- struggling over power and control while also longing for greater mutuality and equality.

Radical Transparency is a way of relating to your partner in which you reveal your inner self, your true experience. That means exposing your vulnerabilities and fears, as well as your desires and points of view about whatever issues you're discussing.

Depression can take a happy, healthy relationship and create a cloud around your ability to enjoy the person you love. But you can stop this cycle before it damages your relationship. Here are simple, manageable tips to help.

Expecting to magically know how to create a healthy, loving, functional, committed relationship if your parents had an unhealthy, dysfunctional one is like expecting to suddenly become fluent in Chinese simply because you really want to be.

Whether you implement curiosity expressly, or do so without mentioning it to your spouse, you will quickly find that the care, attention and interest you display toward him or her will naturally be returned to you.

Growing your business and personal life together is a challenge that will forever require attention and work, but will also deliver rewarding feelings and memories, while undoubtedly filling your heart with love.

If you ever talk over each other, if your discussions have a tendency to turn into arguments or if you feel you are not being heard, then the talking stick is an excellent way to communicate and can save enormous amounts of time, energy and heartache within your relationship.

Life is amazing, mysterious, miraculous and extraordinarily complex. Joining two lives together can enhance the joys and multiply the complexities. Being part of a meaningful relationship is an ongoing, and at times, challenging adventure.

For all of us still showing up to marriage class (some of us more prepared than others) taking tests, failing quizzes, learning new things or bored with the same old material, remember that as sure as the sun will set on this day, life is guaranteed to change.

As Leo Tolstoy once said, "All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." We can smile at that quote or it can inspire us to ask ourselves some wise questions.