Marriage is not overrated. It is one institution that will always be in vogue, to use that common expression. At its core, it is and will always be a hide-away from the shocks of society. Even though these shocks of society, usually unrelenting, know how to pick their moments for impact that will be far reaching, marriage always finds a way to reassert itself, and reclaim whatever grounds it may have lost to particularized or generalized attacks. Below is proof.

News broke last week Thursday that billionaire American philanthropist Bill Gates had reclaimed the top spot of the world’s richest from fellow American and founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. It is a position he last held in 2017. The world regarded the news because of the calibre of persons involved. And because of the fact that Jeff Bezos lost his place to Bill Gates on the back of news of the tumbling of the shares of Amazon, his company.

Amazon’s shares dropped by 8.1 percent during Thursday’s trading bringing the value to $1,637. This drop in value automatically affected the net worth of Jeff Bezos. And though that was news in itself, it became a bigger news when the value of his loss was placed in a comparative context with the net worth of Bill Gates. The result was that the enviable title of world’s richest man, which Bezos had enjoyed for some time, went back to an individual who had previously ‘owned’ the title because of how long he had kept the title previously.

Incredibly, by the close of trading on Friday, power had changed hands, like they say; Amazon shares had rebounded and Bezos had quickly reclaimed the top spot he had only relinquished twenty-four hours earlier.

Yet the fact that Bezos paid his ex-wife, Mackenzie Bezos $38b to finalize the process of their divorce after twenty-five years of marriage together, was the recurring element in the story. Immediately putting the development in a different light and freshly challenging the claim that marriage is overrated.

Certainly, the handling of an institution that could produce such impact in the world’s richest index cannot be regarded as overrated. For something to be overrated it means it is being given more than its fair share; more than its appropriate share of attention, respect and regard.

And that precisely is what sages and experts through the ages have said is the lifeblood of every marriage. Attention from the husband to the wife. Attention from the wife to the husband. In significant measures. Proportional to the capabilities of the partners involved, and placed within the framework permitted by the fair and reasonable considerations of the same parties. And giving each other healthy doses of that timeless marriage spark called understanding.

Giving sustained attention to another human being, especially one that is easily dressed up in the robe called familiarity is spelt w-o-r-k. It requires time and effort. Put simply, it is not an easy thing to do. Of course, it become more difficult when it is complicated by distorted perceptions, perceived insensitivities and those other variables easily pulled out of the ‘irreconcilable’ bucket.

Marriage is definitely not an easy thing. And no one should criticise, or look down on the status or condition of any couple for whatever reason because though alike sometimes, the nature of work required by every pair differs from one to another.