Search Results for: blog why you should take your spouse for granted

Why I Wouldn’t Want to Marry a Prince

I am officially over it and it hasn’t even taken place yet. Of course I’m talking about the royal wedding, which I am doing my level best to ignore. But it is not easy. TV stations here are obsessed with it. I have no doubt the magazine market is too but since I don’t buy magazines and haven’t been near a supermarket or shop in over ten days, I wouldn’t know. It seems to me though that marrying a prince would be awful. Why? I’ll tell you. Firstly you’d live your whole life in the public eye with everyone watching … Continue reading →

A Resolution for Marriage

The beginning of a new year is a good time to take stock of your marriage. Whether you have been married a few months or many years, it is a good time to stop and think about where it is at and how your relationship with your spouse is going. Even if we have a good marriage that is no reason then to be complacent and assume it will just always roll on the same way and we will never have any problems. We all need to be vigilant is seeing what negatives have crept into our marriages and how … Continue reading →

The Power of the Ex

In your marriage, your ex relationships can have a lot of power, whether those ex people are aware of it or not. Use that power for good not evil, and you’ll have a happy marriage. Most married people have had previous relationships of one kind of another. Whether the ex consists of a childhood sweetheart or a previous marriage, there is usually some history there. Those ex-relationship have power in a couple of different ways. The grass is greener People by their very nature usually look back on the positive things in life. While that can be a very beneficial … Continue reading →

Just Because You Are You

So many times when we are in the middle of our marriages we focus the shortcomings in ourselves and in our spouses. We look at the flabby middle, the graying hair, the fact that no matter how we try, we just can’t learn to make a good casserole. We worry that with marriage comes familiarity leading to disinterest, or that we don’t keep ourselves attractive enough. How many times have you asked your spouse or has he asked you, “Why do you love me?” Have you been able to reply from the heart about all of the little things, the … Continue reading →

The Gift of Unconditional Acceptance

Unconditional acceptance of another person is a wonderful thing that is very difficult to achieve, and maybe impossible to achieve 100 percent. But that is okay. The more effort and understanding we put into our marriages, along with a good dose of love, the closer we can come to this ideal. When you first meet someone and then fall in love with him or her, the whole thing is rather exciting. You may find yourself overlooking the other person’s faults (and we all have them) or trying to cover up your own. But marriage is all about trust, to whatever … Continue reading →

Marriages Need to Grow

Those who have been through marriage preparation classes could perhaps be better prepared for the reality of marriage. They’re a good idea but they still don’t have all the answers. Basically we can discuss issues before we are married. Mick and I did. We talked about children, money, other family members, religion and anything else that came to mind and that’s great. But sometimes those held views change over time and we need to rethink. That’s when we need to make sure the lines of communication stay open. Good, lasting marriages don’t just happen. Like gardens they need time to … Continue reading →

Why You Should Take Your Spouse for Granted

Marriage advice across the board says that you should never take your spouse for granted. Taking your spouse for granted is like shooting your marriage in the foot, they say. You know what? I disagree. I think taking your spouse for granted is one of the best things you could possibly do in your marriage. Keep reading and I’ll explain. If you can’t your spouse for granted then who can you take for granted? Who else in this world can you expect to be by your side no matter what? Who else can you rely on to always have your … Continue reading →

Oprah’s “Why Men Cheat” Controversy

Last week Oprah did a show called “How to Affair-Proof Your Marriage: Why Men Cheat Part 2.” I don’t know if she had the “Part 2” planned or not. From the previews it kind of sounded like they did it in response to all of the responses Part 1 generated. It was the previews that caught my attention. Since I wasn’t going to be able to watch the show when it aired, I recorded it. Saturday while Wayne and I were hanging out to nurse Murph, he was flipping through our recorded programs on the DVR and saw the Oprah … Continue reading →

100 Things Every Marriage Should Experience Before Dying

Have you heard of the book 100 Things To Do Before You Die? (Not to be confused with 101 Things To Do Before You Die, which, while the title’s similar, is an entirely different beast of a book and was written by a different author, Richard Horne.) Dave Freeman, one of the 100’s co-authors, died this past August. I’ve never read the book, but I certainly got a sense of the man. Here’s a snippet from his obituary in the Los Angeles Times: The “100 Things” approach later swept the publishing industry, said Neil Teplica, who wrote the book with … Continue reading →

Test Your Relationship Memory

Do you ever get asked questions by others about your relationship? Wayne and I do. People are always either curious, impressed, or appalled that we’ve been together for as long as we have and since such a young age. Mostly it’s younger couples wanting to know how (and sometimes why) we’ve stayed together. (By “younger” I don’t necessarily mean younger than us in age so much as in their years together.) However, sometimes even older couples with a couple of decade’s worth of anniversaries on us pose us questions. When I was running my mom to various appointments, or spending … Continue reading →