Married couples disagree. The ones who stay married the longest disagree just as much as the ones who divorce. Disagreements become angry battles or festering resentments only when you fall into the trap of thinking a disagreement requires a choice between your two points of view. You start out thinking Option A vs. Option B. If you argue for Option A or Option B, you lose. Jump the net instead...
Writer, speaker, comedian Patty K and her guy Joe ran into one of those “what do we do now?” choices recently. She enthusiastically encouraged him to go after a dream of his only to find it landed her in her idea of a nightmarish lifestyle. Should Joe give up his dream? Should she tolerate being miserable? Did he have to choose between love and an unhappy companion? Did Patty have to...
Happy Valentine’s Day, and thank you for this fourth anniversary of the Asssume Love blog. It wouldn’t be any fun at all without you. If you’ve been lurking, I hope you will say hi in the comments on this anniversary of ours. Today’s topic is, of course, romance. When it gets this much advertising, this much aisle space in almost every store, you would think every husband...
Are you one of those parents who did not have great role models for marriage as you were growing up? Did you have to discover some of the skills for sustaining an intimate relationship on your own? Me, too. And as you know if you have read my Author page, it took a huge whack upside the head for me to catch on. So, what would I teach a daughter if I had one still in middle school or high school...
I have two this year: Find more creative Third Alternatives when we disagree – We disagree a lot, so I will have lots of opportunity here. A good Third Alternative combines delighting my husband with getting what I want, always a pure delight. I intend to reach out to my creative friends and my readers to come up with even better alternative whenever we think there are just two and we...
I am a widow who got it right the second time. I have been sharing here since February 14, 2006 what I learned from that experience and from positive psychology, marriage research, and my training as a marriage educator.
