What is your key to a long successful marriage ?

Don't hassle each other! i.e don't nag or nitpick your husband/wife. talk to them with respect and kindness. When you don't apologize for being rude. Always give them your emotional best! If you only have one smile in you for the day, they get it! Don't go out in the world being pleasant to people at work and total strangers on the street and then come home and give the grit face and stank attitude to your spouse.

Good sex! Frequently! No more needs to be said

Space! give your spouse space. You can do things apart sometimes and have different interests, different friends.

Privacy! This goes along with space, but is a little different. Married or not every single person deserves some privacy. Don't go through your spouse's phone, email, diary, etc. And for god's sakes let them go to the bathroom ALONE. I know couples who routinely walk in on each other in the bathroom. I would never do that to my husband and he has never done it to me. I mean really! WTF you can't let someone take a *kitten* alone??

Trust! If you can't/don't/won't trust your spouse you have no business being married. Either they are untrustworthy (in which case you should not have married their trifling as*) or you have trust issues (in which case you need therapy). In any case you cannot control what they do. Trust and believe in your spouse that they will not betray you. If they are a liar and/or a cheater you being jealous and controlling will not change that. If you find someone who is a good person and not a cheating, lying skank type (and these people reveal themselves in other ways) then trust them and believe in them.

Humor & Fun! being a fun and friendly person to your spouse and vice versa goes a LONG way. You two should be a party unto yourselves LOL. My husband and I have a lot of fun together, in many ways it feels like we are still dating. He cracks me up, and often catches me by surprise with his humor.

Communication! TALK to your spouse! Don't go asking your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, etc. about issues affecting your marriage. You have a problem, talk to your spouse! and keep other folks OUT of your business. Nobody needs to know every thing that goes on in your marriage, and some things should be private just between you two.

I've been married since 1999. Been with my husband since 1996. Met in 1994. We've got a bit of time in :flowerforyou:

Been married for 2 years, and staying far from each other...not much experience but I would say the key so far is to think for your family not for yourself anymore...looking sexy always is what I want to achieve.

20 years here;

wake up each morning and think; 'how can I make my wife's life better today?'

Don't expect not to row, you are human, you are different from one another and you will have differences of opinions, bad moods, irritability...but always talk things out and work out your problems together with mutual love and respect.

Support each other through the hard times, laugh together, cry together, be each other's best friends.

If you have children and you have different opinions on how to bring them up, discipline etc., don't argue in front of them, don't undermine each other, talk things out when you are alone and come to a compromise, then present a united front.

I have been with my husband 14 years, married 13 next month. We have been through so many things together & while we don't always see eye to eye we will always be there for one another.

Marry someone ugly! lol!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4TOR7856d4

My parents have been married for 24 years. They say humor =}

We've been married 30 years. When I read your title the first thought was "laughter".

I have been married 37 years. We married pretty young. I was 20 and he was 22 and had our first baby and bought our first house within the first year. So a lot of stress for a young couple. We had only dated 7 months when we got married. It could have been doomed from the start. The main thing is we are both committed to making this work. Marriage can be hard work at times. There are times I don't really like him and find him annoying and the same thing goes for him towards me. But we do love and respect each other, that never stops. We both have the same values. We both come from families where our parents were married a long time before once of them passed. My parents were married 45 years when my mom died and his parents were married for 58years before his dad died. So we both had good role models for marriage and commitment. We also communicate pretty well.

Celebrated 13 years on Monday......we agreed in the beginning divorce was not an option....its been long, hard, happy, silly, sad, exciting, hot .....would not change it for the world. He is my best friend. You have to work together to make it work.......and Sex. Sex is great, simply great.

Humor, love, friendship, understanding, forgiveness. Holding hands. Still wanting to be with that person every single day and still finding lots of stuff to talk about.

My parents have been married for 24 years. They say humor =}

We've been married 30 years. When I read your title the first thought was "laughter".

My first thought was laughter as well!

Trust and faithfulness

My parents been married for 49 years and in there younger harder years....Who ever "wants out", gotta take the kids !

Not getting divorced.

That sounds snarky but we just did not quit when it would have been really easy to the last few years. We have made it through the other side of a long journey but always said that we were married and that divorce wasn't really an option, even though we knew it was and even though we both wanted to at different points in the three years (been married 13) we said no divorce. Mind you there was no cheating or abuse just unhappiness but we fought hard, and are fighting hard to be happy married people instead of unhappy married people.

25 years for us I think a few things have helped.

Humor - If you can't laugh at life together from time to time it is lots tougher.

Talking - this helps keep us keep connected and understanding each other.

Going to bed mad - I know this goes against most advice but when we wake up the next morning we really can't remember why we were so mad and can work out any issue that may need to fixed.

Compromise, trust, and a relationship with God. One thing I will say is when a married couple have a problem the only way to get through it is to come up with a resolution to solve it or else you will continue to fight about it over and over and over.