Will Miley Cyrus’ Biggest Dream Come True?

“Sometimes when you get in this ride you feel like you’re strapped to a rocket.”

~ Billy Ray Cyrus

by Carson Abrir

Eighteen-year-old Destiny Hope Cyrus, better known around the world as Miley Cyrus, has seen a lot of dreams come true.

Her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, said today that he and Miley’s mother are stepping back from the brink of ending their 17-year-marriage. For the teen idol, that may turn out to be one of the biggest dreams of all.

Miley Cyrus achieved worldwide fame for her role as Miley Stewart on Hannah Montana, the hit Disney sitcom about a teenager who lives a double life as an average school girl by day and famous pop star by night.

“I’ve dropped the divorce,” Billy Ray Cyrus, 49, said on The View. “I want to put my family back together. Things are the best they’ve ever been.”

Last year, Billy Ray Cyrus blamed Hannah Montana for “destroying my family.” After a video went viral of Miley Cyrus smoking from a bong, Billy Ray Cyrus said his daughter was surrounded by people who put her “in a great deal of danger.”

Now Billy Ray Cyrus says, “things are the best they’ve ever been.” He’s realized it wasn’t the popular Disney series that hurt his family, but adjusting to the fame that came along.

“Hannah Montana didn’t ruin my family,” he said in his interview for the View. “Fame did.”

Like Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus, many couples find a time-out during a crisis offers a chance for reflection and healing marriages on the brink. Facing the break-up of a family often motivates couples to reach out for skills training to help them better understand each other, improve communication, and explore new options for strengthening love and intimacy.

A study by PAIRS Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest providers of relationship and marriage education, found three-quarters of couples at the brink of divorce were able to save their relationships after nine hours of skills training.

“The real challenge for couples on the brink,” said PAIRS CEO Seth Eisenberg, “is to learn skills for connecting and working with each other. Marriage education that builds emotional literacy helps couples find their own answers.”

Eisenberg said that’s a much different approach than marriage counseling or therapy, and often far more effective.

“We all choose from the options we know. The best marriage education programs give couples new options to deepen emotional connection. For couples like Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus, realizing they have to use skills to solve their problems with each other instead of a third-party is not only empowering, it also gives them the best chance of solving new challenges they’ll face in the future,” Seth Eisenberg said.

“Sometimes when you get in this ride,” Billy Ray Cyrus said, “you feel like you’re strapped to a rocket.”

As his daughter’s talent, charm and beauty continues to build her global popularity – Miley Cyrus was invited by Prince William to sing at his wedding to Kate Middleton next month — learning to stay happily strapped to each other may be the most important lesson of all.

Related:

Miley Cyrus snagged in divorce tug-a-war

Step Back from Brink of Divorce