Criticism

A recently read quote – “If you want to kill a relationship outright, have an affair.  But if you want to bludgeon it to death slowly, use criticism.” Ongoing criticism causes people to feel unloved, attacked, disrespected, and many other feelings that you could add to the list.  If I were to ask an audience,…

That’s Not Fair

“How come David gets a bigger piece of cake than I do.  That’s not fair.”  “It’s her turn.  I had to unload the dish washer last time. That’s not fair.”  We have all heard our children make these kind of statements because they think everything should be fair.  We often just chalk up their complaining…

Flirting

She came into my office loaded for bear.  The previous weekend she and her husband had gone to his company Christmas party.  While there, one of her husband’s co-workers began to talk with him.  She giggled as they recounted “inside” jokes and stories regarding customers.  In the course of the conversation, she even touched his…

Remember How to Play

A couple recently sat in my office – intense, unhappy, and bearing down on their marriage with the same exertion required to open a very tight jar.  In other words, they were working really really hard but were not having success.  The marriage was no longer fulfilling and they both felt unable to meet the…

Do Something Different

We all get into routines.  Sometimes they are good ones – like brushing your teeth.  Other times, not so good, such as yelling when you are frustrated.  As a result, there are certainly those routines that we want to hang on to while others we need to jettison as quickly as possible. For example, a…

Is it on Purpose?

It Is 3:00 AM and it is starting again . . . his snoring.  You lay in bed getting more irritated by the minute.  Part of your irritation is because you can’t sleep, which of course contributes to you being tired, which in turn contributes to your irritation.  The longer you listen to the snoring,…

Who Do You Live With?

“Well,” you think, “I live with my spouse,” or “my spouse and our kids.”  While that is certainly true but I’m looking a little deeper.  You see, when we get married we typically feel that we are marrying the ideal person.  However, as the months and years go by, we may begin to find them,…