[Spooky23]

What's your definition of success?

I don't walk into any job interview situation expecting 30 years of bliss -- that's generally not a reality. If you stick around for 3 years that's probably a decent employment relationship depending on industry.

Many marriages, including those that ultimately fail, work pretty well for a long time. I'm not that old, and I've been married for 13 years. Is that a win?

Also, the average marriage is around 8 years, but the median is close to 40 iirc. People who get divorced trend to have issues like being young, poor, previously divorced, criminal issues or substance abuse problems. Divorce rates for couples at least 25 without those risk factors are dramatically lower -- implying that people with fewer signs of bad judgement display better judgement in picking a spouse and maintaining a relationship.

[TheSpiceIsLife]

Yes, I thoroughly agree with all you've written.

As someone who indulges in more than his fare share of young/poor/previously separated/criminal issues/substance abuse problems... I attempted to capture that in my somewhat more terse "Having said that, it doesn't necessarily mean it was all a complete waste." Thanking for expanding on that where I was laconic.