Word Pictures: Old Couple gets Divorced

Maybe you heard the sad shocking story about when a cute old couple gets divorced after their 50-year anniversary. (I heard this story from John Maxwell on one of his Maximum Impact lessons and have added my own touches for you. I hope you like it).

It seemed like they had a picture-perfect life with a nice house, grandkids, friends, etc. But without warning or any evident problems, the wife suddenly divorced the husband.  Everyone was shocked. The husband was of course devastated. 

“Baby,” the husband asked, “after fifty years why did you leave me? I thought we loved each other!” 

The wife answered “I thought we loved each other, until I realized the last time you said you loved me was at the altar when we married 50 years ago.  Why should I stay with someone who doesn’t love me?”

The husband thought about it for a minute, and responded “Baby, yes the last time I told you I loved you was on the altar 50 years ago.  But if I changed my mind I would’ve told you!”

Lessons from when the old couple gets divorced

What’s the key takeaway from this story of when the old couple gets divorced? It’s not enough to make a good decision. Decisions must be properly managed to work.

What newlywed doesn’t dream about making a life with their new spouse? Who expects to get divorced when you marry? I didn’t for my first two marriages, which both ended in divorce. 

The 3rd time’s a charm though and going very well, largely due to the mistakes I learned from my earlier attempts and the effort we both put to making this one work.  

What did I learn from three marriages? 

1. The decision to be married, even getting married, doesn’t automatically make you happy. (The opposite, actually – hehe). 
2. You must manage (work at) your marriage for it to work. (It’s worth working).

The biggest mistake I, and the old man in our story of when an old couple gets divorced, made was thinking that being married was enough. All decisions must be managed to succeed.

When I was in prison everyone swore they were never coming back, but many (tragically) did. Lots of people decide to be self-employed, and many don’t make it. Why?

It’s not enough to make a good decision, proclamation, dream, or goals. Yes, we should and need all these things. But without managing them they’re worthless. You manage through actions that support your goals. They all must be fought for, sacrificed for, and regularly worked at to happen. 

Back when I was developing real commercial real estate, being a big shot, every now and then someone would come up to me and see the toys, or hear about what I owned, and would say “I want to do what you do for a living.” I’d usually respond, “That’s flattering, but are you willing to work as hard as I did to get these things?” 

Life isn’t easy, and most dreams and goals, or other good things, don’t come automatically. They do come, but only by managing the decision to have them by putting forth the sacrifice, focus, and ongoing effort to make them happen. 

What do you want your future to look like? What are you willing to do to make it happen?  What will you do, can you do, right now to start the process?

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