tl;dr A happy marriage isn't a result of magically picking the right person. My 2 cents: Of course it isn't. A happy marriage is the result of two conscious d

tl;dr A happy marriage isn't a result of magically picking the right person. My 2 cents: Of course it isn't. A happy marriage is the result of two conscious decisions - one from each person involved. To sum it up with a quote I heard growing up: "'Soul mates' are fiction and an illusion[...] yet it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price."