Simon Barnett: 'There's no business like marriage'
by Garth George, Editor, Challenge Weekly, New Zealand
June 28, 2007
AUCKLAND, NZ (ANS) -- Show business marriages hit the headlines more often for their failures than their successes, but given the high level of marriage failure, not just in showbiz, it should be the other way around.New Zealand broadcaster and TV personality Simon Barnett and his wife Jody, married for 16 years and parents of four children, are not only beating the marriage odds, they're also beating the drum for The Marriage Course.
Having attended the course themselves, they can see a real need for The Marriage Course for all Kiwis.
"I think there is a deep-rooted desire for couples to have a wonderful marriage - I think that's in everybody's hearts," says Simon, a disc jockey at More FM in Christchurch, but perhaps best-known as the host of TV programmes such as Wheel of Fortune, Face the Music, Telebingo and Clash of the Codes.
"I don't know of a couple who walk down the aisle thinking to themselves, 'This probably won't work but I'll give it a good nudge'.
"Most people, when they take their vows, really yearn for that lifelong marriage. But the problem is that six or seven years into it, two children later, it's hard work."
He and Jody describe as "misinformation" the fairytale ideal of falling in love, getting married and living happily ever after.
"People think there's some magic out there that will make everything go well for them," Jody says. "Marriages take compromise and effort - it's not magic and it doesn't happen by itself."
"Anything that you want to sustain, you've got to maintain," Simon agrees. "The problem in New Zealand is there's just not enough information about how to have a great marriage.
"You fall in love, get married, and then spend the rest of your life - or you should do - trying to make sure your marriage is healthy and happy. That requires a great deal of work.
"Nobody would get into a car at 15 and just expect to drive, without having done a few practical exercises and knowing the theory. We need real education about marriage, how it works, what makes it work, what is a healthy, happy marriage-and that means, occasionally, there is conflict." Jody believes The Marriage Course teaches couples that marriage can be fantastic.
"It's just the best place to be when it works really well. Simon and I just can't be thankful enough for the fact that we have such a great marriage. We both really believe in marriage and think it is a wonderful institution."
They both want other people to discover the same truth. As Simon says: "People have to have the facts put in front of them and The Marriage Course is the perfect way to do that."
The website is www.themarriagecourse.org.nz
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
