It's Wifey Wednesday, when we talk marriage! I introduce a topic, and you comment, or, better still, write a post on your own blog and link back here!
First, I was blown away by the comments from yesterday's post. I was talking about whether early marriages are good, and asked people how old they were when they were married. I don't know if it's selection bias as to who commented or not, but it seems like 95% of you were under 25. Perhaps that's a unique Christian SAHM thing? I'm not sure.
I do think that you're more likely to be a SAHM if you marry early, because you're used to living together when you're poor. You haven't established a career yet that it's hard to leave behind. So perhaps the people who read this blog just simply have tended to have similar paths in life (though if you haven't, you are, of course, more than welcome to stick around!).
Anyway, apparently marriages that begin in the early 20s tend to be more stable than those that begin in the early 30s, so I thought we could address today one way to make your marriage more stable.
So let me suggest something: work in your areas of strength. Let me explain what I mean. Often when we are upset in our marriages it is because we focus on the marriage's areas of weakness. We don't communicate well. He doesn't do enough of the housework. He leaves all the childcare to me. All he thinks about is sex. Etc. Etc.
Yet the marriages that tend to last tend to be the ones where people focus on their strengths. So let's say that you're in a marriage where you really don't seem to communicate well. It's hard to raise something that's an issue to you. He never shares his feelings.
You now have two choices: you can pound away at the communication issue, trying to get him to open up, and get frustrated in the process, or you can let it go for a while. If you pound away, he's likely to get annoyed, and retreat, and you're likely to get even more bitter.
Another strategy is to say, "what do we do well together?" Maybe he doesn't open up well, but maybe he really enjoys doing active things together as a family. Maybe you talk a lot when you take drives in the country. Maybe he gets excited when you look at the stock market together and plan your financial savings strategy. Or maybe you need to think back a little further. When's the last time you really laughed together? Had fun together? Relaxed together? What were you doing? Maybe a few years ago you pulled out a puzzle, and realized he really liked doing puzzles, and you liked it, too, but you haven't pulled one out since. Maybe you're awesome at playing Monopoly together.
What are your strengths as a couple? Are you sporty together? Can you lead a great Bible study together? Are you good youth leaders at church? Are you both musical? Are you good at painting a room together or fixing up the house?
Figure out what you can do together that makes you feel energized, and that touches your interests and/or gifts. And then do more of it.
So often we squeeze out the stuff that we do well together because "more important" things come along. The kids have hockey. They have homework. I have to clean the house. But it is just as important to function well as a couple and to feel competent and capable together. In fact, perhaps it's more important.
If there was something you once enjoyed doing together, and you've cut it out of your life, bring it back. Especially if you're having problems. If you can spend some time in this area of strength, it can refocus your marriage. You start to look forward to being together again. It's not stressful, as it is when you talk about the areas where you don't connect. It reinforces the reasons that you're a good couple.
And as you do that, the areas of weakness tend to fade, for two reasons. First, we stop noticing them and giving them so much importance. But perhaps more importantly, when we build our friendship and our identity as a couple, we tend to build a good foundation for the rest of the relationship. Work on companionship, and sex tends to improve. Work on fun, and communication tends to improve. Don't push these things, of course; but you'll likely find that you both are better able to function in all areas of your relationship when you start focusing on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses.
So today, whether your marriage is a good one or not, ask yourself: what do we do well together? Ski? Camp? Play games? Plan? Hike? Drive? And whatever it is, make a point of doing it together at least once a week. You just may find that your attitude, and his, takes a dramatic turn!
What about you? What do you do well together? Leave a comment and tell me! And, if you have a blog, do post on this topic. Have you ever focused too much on the negative? Has doing something together changed the dynamic in your relationship? Tell us! Just go write your own blog post, link it back here, and then come on over here and enter the URL for your blog post in the Mcklinky!
Labels: communication, intimacy, loving, marriage, wifey wednesdays |
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Loved this post! Very, very true. Posting my own and linking back to you :)