The easiest way to a happier marriage does not include changing your spouse. Spouses are hard to change. Even when they know what you want from them, it can be hard for them to give it. Accusations about their failures to provide what you expect will get you defensiveness from all but the most self-aware spouses, because it’s a threat to their core relationship. Defensiveness is not pretty...
If you are looking for a way to reconnect with your husband or wife, this GoodTrade article has some ideas on where to do it. They list five top resorts for couples retreats. Here is their list: The Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, for couples looking for workshops on relationship skills or personal transformation. You’ll find lots of choices in lodging types and workshops, and the...
Having an affair is so common that the vocabulary of most languages has a name for it. Even so, it usually induces rage or despondency when the other spouse learns of it, except in those rare consensually open or polyamorous marriages. But what do you do when that rage or despondency is yours? First, acknowledge this as a severe breach of trust and of your marriage vows or at least the default...
Best-selling self-help author Barbara Sher always said, “You cannot be modest about your gifts, because that’s arrogant. They aren’t yours. You didn’t think them up and work for them. They were there when you were born.” You can’t be proud or ashamed of being tall. It wasn’t you who did that. But when someone short needs helping reaching something, you...
Small annoyances can become big marriage problems. What do I mean by small annoyances? Socks on the floor, cap off the toothpaste, water on the counter, putting a milk container with just one ounce of milk back in the refrigerator without buying more or putting it on the shopping list, leaving things on the passenger seat of the car, going missing while you’re shopping, getting out of bed...
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.
