How to Live Happily Every After

This weekend I was looking through the Sunday paper when the USA Weekend magazine flopped in front of me. "How to Live Happily Every After" it boasted, with a picture of soon-to-be-wed royals William and Kate on the cover.

http://www.usaweekend.com/

I was intrigued. The "article" was basically little paragraphs of advice from those known best for being happy & lucky in love for life - celebrities. 

I was surprised to see that most people had fairly good advice. I was expecting some really good blogging fodder, but in reality - many of the contributors were right on. Here's a link to the actual story: http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20110211/HOME03/102130314/-1/home03/How-to-live-happily-ever-after.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Dr. Phil's advice was the best in my opinion:

"A wedding should be fun, but you've got to plan for the day after because that begins your life together. Talk about how you're going to live together: in-laws, kids, geography, religion, sex and division of labor. If you have the same expectations, OK. If not, you've got to negotiate a middle ground."
Phil McGraw, aka Dr. Phil, TV host; married for 34 years

 I also really appreciated Spike Lee and Susan Lucci's advice:

"Don't sweat the small stuff and focus on the positive. And the sooner you learn to say 'Yes, dear,' the better it is."
Spike Lee, film director and co-author with his wife of 17 years, Tonya Lewis Lee, of the children's book Giant Steps to Change the World

"In challenging times, remember the reasons you fell in love and never take them for granted."
Susan Lucci, soap opera star; married 40 years

Can I point out that I'm SHOCKED that Susan Lucci is old enough to be married 40 years? I just discovered she recently turned 64!

Some other advice was good, but maybe not the best. Take Jay Leno's for example.

"If my wife is passionate about something, she can have it. She loves cats and I'm allergic. We've had cats for 30 years, so you sneeze once in a while. It's a small price to pay."
Jay Leno, TV host; married 30 years

 Now, I agree that a cat allergy isn't a reason to break up a marriage, but allowing your spouse something that can cause you harm (some allergies are very dangerous) isn't what it's all about - though it seems to work for the Leno's.

And, the one I thought was the silliest of them all:

"Prince William and Kate Middleton should develop a marriage mission statement, such as 'We're going to have two children, we'll be totally faithful, and we'll make sure our children are raised in an environment of love, respect and synergy.' "
Stephen R. Covey, best-selling author, advice guru and USA WEEKEND contributing editor; married 54 years

 I don't know...it's not that bad of advice, but it just seems a little odd to give your marriage a mission statement the way a business would. Marriage is a covenant, not a contracts. Contracts can be broken - covenants can not!

Anyway...this is the advice of some long-married celebs on how to live Happily Ever After.