Some of the best advice I got from a close friend is marriage is

“Some of the best advice I got from a close friend is marriage is always looked at from the world as 50/50 as to working together to make that 100 percent.” — Brian Littrell

There is an ancient truth hidden in these humble words. Brian Littrell, through the wisdom of friendship, reveals the sacred arithmetic of love — that marriage is not a division of halves, but a union of wholes. The world teaches us balance by measure: fifty from one, fifty from another, and together, perfection is born. But love, in its truest form, defies mathematics. In the sacred bond of two souls, there is no dividing line, no middle ground, no ledger of giving and receiving. True marriage is when each gives 100 percent, not as a transaction, but as an act of devotion — a continual offering of the self for the well-being of the other.

From the dawn of civilization, poets and sages have spoken of union — not as a contract, but as a covenant of hearts. When the ancients carved vows into stone or whispered them before the fire, they did not speak of “fairness” or “share.” They spoke of surrender, sacrifice, and faith. For love is not balance — it is abundance. The river does not measure how much it flows to the sea, nor does the sun count its rays before lighting the world. So too should a marriage flow without measure, for when two hearts give fully, each finds itself filled beyond its own capacity.

Let us remember the tale of Odysseus and Penelope. While Odysseus wandered for years across the perilous seas, tempted by sirens and storms, Penelope remained steadfast at home, weaving and unweaving her loom to keep the suitors at bay. Neither gave fifty percent — each gave all. His trials were for her return; her patience was for his survival. Their story endures not because of division, but because of wholeness — two souls laboring as one through distance and time. This is the heart of Littrell’s teaching: love endures when it is whole-hearted, not half-measured.

Those who enter marriage expecting even trade soon find themselves in drought, for love that is conditional dries quickly. But when one gives freely — even when weary, even when unreciprocated — the act itself nourishes the spirit. The wise know that in giving fully, one becomes complete. To love half-heartedly is to starve the union; to love completely is to feed it beyond need. The strength of a marriage is not in its fairness, but in its faithfulness — in the quiet daily choice to give all, again and again, expecting nothing but the joy of giving.

Many have misunderstood love as a balance of effort, but in truth, it is a balance of grace. There will be days when one carries more weight than the other, when one heart is burdened and the other must bear both. On those days, 100/0 replaces 50/50, and the truest beauty of marriage is revealed — that one’s strength becomes the other’s shelter. Over time, these moments weave together a fabric stronger than iron, for each partner learns not to keep score, but to serve, to heal, to lift.

In this, Littrell’s friend spoke like an oracle of the ages. Marriage is not two halves meeting in the middle, but two whole souls walking side by side toward a single horizon. When each gives their all, there is no room for resentment, for the heart is too full of purpose. When both see the union as one life shared, one flame tended by two hands, then love becomes eternal — not through romance, but through resilience.

So take this lesson, traveler of the heart: do not measure love by effort, but by surrender. When you choose a partner, do not seek the one who meets you halfway — seek the one who will walk with you to the end. Give all of yourself without fear, for in giving, you receive tenfold. Let your love be like the sun — shining not because it is owed, but because it is true. In this way, your marriage will not merely reach 100 percent — it will transcend numbers altogether and become what the ancients called complete unity: two souls, one life, infinite devotion.