Marriage? Marriage!!

Recently, I have been asked a tricky question: What is marriage? Is it the way how we meet our needs? Is it something we need? Or is it a mission? 'Do you want to get married because you need it (tsorech) or because you believe it is a mission (avodat Hashem)?' Well, the answer is not that simple.
My impression is, that unless people felt the need to share their lives with another person in an official framework, they simply would not have done that, and the world would have come soon to its end. It is fact, that we need it. That is our nature. There are many personal needs that can be met only, if we have a partner - and these needs may be the most banal and of physical nature, and they might be of a very spiritual nature.
But, in order to succeed in the marriage, once we get married, we should switch the approach to the 'mission' mode. Marriage is a mission. Two people who share life goals and want to reach them 'davka' together. During this mission, we make efforts to meet the needs of the other, as well as we articulate our own needs, so that our partner will be able to meet them. We are thankful to each other for these efforts (thankfulness and appreciation are alef bet of the Torah, as we learn from the reason why Amon and Moav cannot become our brethren). That is part of this mission, and yes - also the path itself is essential part of the goal.
Mission accomplished is the biggest reward for all efforts that we make in our lives (see the picture). That is the true satisfaction (and I can imagine the granchildren playing on the playground in front of this older couple).
Personal happiness can be reached only when we are able to be happy as we are. It should not be dependent on the other, on his/her efforts (of course, I am talking about a healthy, communicating couple, that are not intentionally or unintentionally hurting each other all the time).
This mission is like a serious game, where we do not compete, but rather help each other to reach the end. We can succeed only when both partners play the game, while keeping personal integrity. And most important - please let us not turn our own comfort into an ideology.