Emotional abuse can do just as much harm as physical abuse. While anyone can hurt you physically, someone who knows you as well as your husband or wife does has a real advantage when it comes to doing emotional harm. What is emotional abuse? It is using whatever causes a person fear, anxiety, embarrassment, shame, or rage for the purpose of manipulating them. If you argue with your spouse to the...
Date nights can really help a couple with children or busy work schedules maintain the close and stimulating relationship of their dating days. To get the most benefit from a date night, schedule it in advance and create souvenirs while you enjoy it. Both give you more opportunities to savor your time together. And savoring helps it compete better with your negative thoughts about your marriage...
Sometimes, I don’t like my husband. When this happened in my first marriage, I would search around for all the other reasons not to like him. I would get a good grump going. But, as you know, waking up a widow changed my perspective. Now, when I don’t much like my second husband, I smile. I smile because I know the reason. I am frustrated, not getting something I expect from him...
Today is the fifth anniversary for a couple of great friends of mine. They are two of the most creative people I know. Each of them provides a boost to the other’s creative efforts. He is Matthew Cornell, a photo-realistic painter with a thing for stormy weather. He won first place in painting at the Saint Louis Art Fair in Clayton, MO, this year. That’s a big deal prize, in case...
A number of marriage therapists suggest couples pay attention to their marriage like a bank account. Don’t make a withdrawal if you have not made enough deposits. The intention is good. The score-keeping seems all wrong. And so does the idea of withdrawals. Is watching football when your wife wants to go furniture shopping together a withdrawal? Or is it just a conflict of interest better...
