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Our careers are important to us but so are our marriages. It’s a shame, then, that these two important aspects of modern day life so often clash, with both our spouses and jobs competing for our attentions. Truth be told, careers are all too often behind marital dissolution and divorce. To many, the thought of allowing one’s career to cause a divorce is alien; their marriage will always come first. An equally large number of people are career-driven, however, and whilst these individuals will not necessarily put their careers before their marriages, they will expect their spouses to accept the fact that they’re dedicated to their job/employers and that they may, on occasions, arrive home a little later than their other half would like or perhaps work on the odd weekend or two. In some instances, a couple enter into a marriage knowing that one spouse will be required to dedicate a large amount of their time to their career and are initially willing to accommodate this only to later find that they find the situation intolerable. In other instances, one half of the marriage will find that the need to dedicate more time to their employers only emerges after several years of marriage. In either circumstance, one spouse’s career is more than capable of causing a divorce. Ultimately, if one spouse is career-driven, then there is every possibility that they will choose to put their job before their marriage and conclude that a divorce is the only option. Some may choose to avoid divorce, but if an individual is particularly focused on their career then, unfortunately, this is unlikely. What, though, can a spouse that is frustrated with their partner’s workaholic nature do to maintain their marriage and prevent a divorce? The answer, as is the case with the majority of marital dissatisfaction, is compromise. All spouses must accept that their partner will possess some fault and whilst they may be spending more time at work that they are with them, there is little point in filing for a divorce without first having tried to resolve matters. So any individual that finds themselves in this situation should discuss matters with their partner and explain that whilst they understand that their career is important to them, they feel like they need to make more of an effort at home. I’m not suggesting that this will bring about an instantaneous change in the offending spouse’s behaviour, but it might well bring about a residual change and if it doesn’t, well, then you can file for divorce knowing that you tried.