“I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled.”
At some point in your marriage, there is a high probability you will reach a point where temptation hits at the exact same moment you feel you have worked hard to make money your spouse takes for granted, worked hard to care for a mate too ill to meet your sexual needs, worked hard to stretch a dollar year after year for a partner who won’t even buy you a bunch of flowers on your anniversary.
You just might feel entitled. You might even feel getting what you deserve would reduce the tension in your marriage. And you might run straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by.
Deal with your resentment long before you walk into that temptation.
Find a Third Alternative to giving or doing so much that you open yourself to temptation, an alternative that works for both of you, one well within the boundaries of marriage. Don’t exchange that tension, that feeling of deserving something more because the effort in your relationship is out of balance, for the even worse tension of being out of integrity with your own values and the cause of enormous pain for the man or woman at the center of your life.
From Tiger Woods’ Announcement: 48 Words We All Need to Hear
F
Nicely said!
You hit the nail on the head with one word – ENTITLED. In a joint, equal partnership (aka marriage) entitlement is not the issue. You don’t do you 50% and say ‘Ok, now it’s your turn, buck-o’. You do your 100% without thanks, without expectations, without reward – and you do it because you unselfishly love your spouse.
And by the way, Tiger Woods’ affair is nobody’s business but his and his family’s.
“Entitled”…
Indeed. C.S. Lewis titled his last article “We have no right to happiness”. That’s one awesome essay.