Marriage

Do you wish that you had better rapport with your spouse? Are you at a loss for what to do to increase communication and emotional intimacy?

Recently, Christian Godefroy published a story titled “The Dancing Cow” in a newsletter I receive. When I read the story, I immediately thought of how the main point applies to married couples.

Is your spouse a negative person? Does he or she consistently zero in on what’s wrong with you and the marriage while overlooking the many positives?

If so, it’s also quite possible that your spouse is just a negatively-oriented person about most things—work, the marriage, other people, the future, and life in general. Perhaps as time goes by, your spouse is becoming even more negative, critical, and complaining.

Do you ever worry about your spouse becoming involved in an affair? Have you wondered what makes a spouse easy prey for someone else who’s looking for an excuse to stray?

If so, then you have plenty of company. Given all the news stories and movies about cheating spouses, you’d have to be an ostrich with your head buried in the sand not to at least occasionally consider the possibility.

If you’ve always said, “My husband (or wife) would never cheat on me,” you’re being unrealistic and naïve. Most people who have affairs aren’t bad or weak individuals, but they are vulnerable at the time the affair begins.

Quick, what is the most common attitude a spouse can have that leads a marriage down the path to breakup? If you said taking the partner for granted, you’d be right. Is this an issue in your marriage?

It is human nature to want to be valued, appreciated and nurtured. And when you think about it, these are the essential and fundamental qualities that keep a couple bonded together. They are the positive strokes from a spouse that make it easy to love in return. They are the essence of romance.