HELP!

 How helpful are you with your spouse? An offer to help is a great way to say “I love you!”

Yes everybody has their “chores” to do and I agree that both should work together to take care of the household responsibilities. In addition to this, when you see a need, offer to help. For example, it may your responsibility to do the lawn but he decide one day to go out there and help you. That may make you happy just to have him out there. Maybe he’s especially tired today so you offer to make dinner or at least help even though you have other stuff to do. Help can be running an errand for your spouse. It can be as simple as offering a glass of water. I think sometimes we get so comfortable sometimes that we stop doing the stuff we did to get each other. Those little nice thoughtful things go a long way to say “I love you!”

I think that sometimes in marriage we really forget how we used to be when we were courting. Remember how helpful you were to each other. You were so thoughtful. You wanted to do everything to please each other. It was so nice. Often it was those kindnesses that won our love. “She makes me feel so special”. “He is so thoughtful”. So what happenned? Life! Children, jobs, years… all of this takes your focus off each other and on to other things. If you are not careful your thoughtfulness turns into judgement. Constantly looking down on your mate for not doing what they “should” be doing. Now instead of gratitude for each other resentment grows. And even if there is no resentment there is no gratitude. Things are neutral. We just live together. No one makes much effort to excite the other with special thoughtful acts of service, words of affirmations, gifts, quality time or physical touch.

When did marriage become “what you should be doing for me?” Our expectations of each other should be verbalized to one another directly. But disappointed expectations should not mean that I stop doing for you. I think we should not stop reaching out to help our spouse even when they stop reaching out to us. We can also become so independent that we don’t need each other. I do my thing you do yours. Once again – reaching across the isle is good for the relationship – even if they don’t need your help.

So what do you think?

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