Is there anything more important in life than the relationship that exists between ourselves and the ones we love? Personally, I don't think so. It is for this reason that I developed parentingwithanattitude.blogspot.com
The purpose of my blog is two-fold: to help good parents become better parents, and to encourage married couples to thrive-not just survive-in their relationship. New thoughts and ideas will be added to
parentingwithanattitude.blogspot.com on a regular basis, and will consist of 6 primary areas regarding marriage and parenting(click on any of the 6 to read a further description):
1. A Monday morning thought for good parents who want to be better parents;
2. guest authors who will be writing articles that relate to either parenting, marriage or some other area of
relationships;
3. 21 habits of a healthy marriage that I will weigh in on;
4. 14 articles that address what I believe are important differences between punishment and discipline, as well as the differences between parental power and parental authority;
5. "What kids do and say that make us laugh and smile"-an opportunity for you to write in and share funny and touching stories from your observations of kids;
6. periodic excerpts and discussion questions taken directly from my book, Parenting with an Attitude.....21 Questions Successful Parents Ask Themselves.
I hope you will "tune in" from time to time and see what new thoughts and ideas have been added.
Ed Wimberly, Ph.D.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
21 Habits of a Healthy Marriage
Habit #9: Treat your spouse as if today were his/her last.
Not too long ago I suggested this notion to a friend and he was not exactly impressed with the wisdom of such an idea. “If I were to act as if today were my wife’s last day on earth”, he retorted, “then I would literally not leave her side”. Fair enough. This is true. But in taking this idea to an extreme, my friend missed the point.
So what is the point of making it a habit to treat your spouse as if today were your last day together? A couple of thoughts come to mind.
First, there is the idea (and I would assume a goal that most of us have) of living in such a way that by the time it is our turn to exit this life, we have accumulated as few regrets as possible. Since to be human is to be hopelessly imperfect, it is inevitable that we all have some regrets we must accept and live with. But our greatest and most painful regrets usually occur as a result of having said or done something to the ones we love the most. Granted, when we are able to apologize or “take back” what we are sorry for and promise to do better next time, we are able to dilute the regret factor and move on with little or no harm; nonetheless, it is inevitable that the regret remains to some degree.
It might at first seem to go without saying that the death or loss of our partner dictates that it is really too late to apologize or to take back any hurtful remark, unfair or abusive behavior, or any other actions we might be sorry for. But it needs to be said, and we all need to be reminded, because it is easy for most of us to forget. When we live as if this were our last day with our spouse, we go a long way in avoiding any regrets we might not be able to deal with and dilute tomorrow.
Secondly, in spite of the fact that it is highly unlikely that today will actually be the last we spend with our spouse, when we keep in mind the remote possibility, it will likely encourage the kind of attitudes and behaviors that are necessary to nourish and grow the kind of relationship that we desire and value. Living as if this were our last day with the one we love and cherish will have a positive impact on how we conduct ourselves in the very relationship that is supposed to be the most important and meaningful one we will have during our lifetime.
So living as if today could possibly be the last with our spouse helps us avoid behaviors and attitudes that lead to regrets, and at the same time motivates us to act in ways which bring about a deeper and more satisfying relationship.
Ed Wimberly, Ph.D. is the author of PARENTING WITH AN ATTITUDE....21 Questions Successful Parents Ask Themselves
Not too long ago I suggested this notion to a friend and he was not exactly impressed with the wisdom of such an idea. “If I were to act as if today were my wife’s last day on earth”, he retorted, “then I would literally not leave her side”. Fair enough. This is true. But in taking this idea to an extreme, my friend missed the point.
So what is the point of making it a habit to treat your spouse as if today were your last day together? A couple of thoughts come to mind.
First, there is the idea (and I would assume a goal that most of us have) of living in such a way that by the time it is our turn to exit this life, we have accumulated as few regrets as possible. Since to be human is to be hopelessly imperfect, it is inevitable that we all have some regrets we must accept and live with. But our greatest and most painful regrets usually occur as a result of having said or done something to the ones we love the most. Granted, when we are able to apologize or “take back” what we are sorry for and promise to do better next time, we are able to dilute the regret factor and move on with little or no harm; nonetheless, it is inevitable that the regret remains to some degree.
It might at first seem to go without saying that the death or loss of our partner dictates that it is really too late to apologize or to take back any hurtful remark, unfair or abusive behavior, or any other actions we might be sorry for. But it needs to be said, and we all need to be reminded, because it is easy for most of us to forget. When we live as if this were our last day with our spouse, we go a long way in avoiding any regrets we might not be able to deal with and dilute tomorrow.
Secondly, in spite of the fact that it is highly unlikely that today will actually be the last we spend with our spouse, when we keep in mind the remote possibility, it will likely encourage the kind of attitudes and behaviors that are necessary to nourish and grow the kind of relationship that we desire and value. Living as if this were our last day with the one we love and cherish will have a positive impact on how we conduct ourselves in the very relationship that is supposed to be the most important and meaningful one we will have during our lifetime.
So living as if today could possibly be the last with our spouse helps us avoid behaviors and attitudes that lead to regrets, and at the same time motivates us to act in ways which bring about a deeper and more satisfying relationship.
Ed Wimberly, Ph.D. is the author of PARENTING WITH AN ATTITUDE....21 Questions Successful Parents Ask Themselves
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