Turning Towards One Another

Great readings this week!  I especially love Gottman's soncept of turning toward each other.  I completely relate to the two obstacles that he talked about to turning toward each other.  The first obstacle is "missing" a bid because it's wrapped in anger or other negative emotion.  This is so common.  When all I really want is to connect to my spouse, but my emotions turn it into an angry statement.  This usually leads to an angrier rebute from my spouse.  I think what we need to learn from this is to think before we speak.  Think about what we are really needing, think about what we are going to say and how the other might reapond, and think about taking a minute to calm down before speaking.  Sounds so easy!  NOT!!!  It is definitely doable, and something I can work on.  The second obstacle is being distracted by the wired world.  This is so funny, I was just saying to my husband, we need to be completely electronic free at night.  The other night at dinner I had one daughter on her Ipad, one daughter on her gaming device, my husband watching the television, and I was checking my emails on my phone.  So pathentic!!!  This should be our time to look at one another and talk to one another about our days.  Last weekend we were on our date night at a nice resturaunt, I looked around at all the people and realized way more than half of them were on a cell phone!  How sad.  We have almost completely given up on talking to each other.  It is easy to see how these obstacles can stand in the way of turning toward each other.

     I also loved reading the chapter from Goddard's book about having faith in Christ.  Putting God first and having faith in Christ, gives us an eteranal perspective.  I loved the quote from President Ezra Taft Benson, "when we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of their lives".  Wow!  could it be that easy!  Yes, it is.  When we strive to live a Christlike life, we are progressing and perfecting ourselves.  while doing this our relationships benefit, and grow.  We learn to look outward and be less selfish.  This is a way to a successful relationship.