
Healthy communication is an ESSENTIAL part of a strong marriage, yet so many couples struggle with this. So, what makes our conversations with our spouse go south (and how can we turn things around)? Here are 4 BIG ones…
- Be a poor listener.
I have been guilty of this more times than I’d like to admit. There are times when our spouse wants to talk about something, but we don’t feel like talking about it at the moment. So, instead of telling him/her how we truly feel (or offering our listening ear), we end up listening half-heartedly while we think about other things. Sometimes, we only hear part of the what our spouse is trying to say and miss the whole picture, because we are thinking about our own response the whole time. This only leads to more frustration, and ultimately, it ends the conversation.
Instead, we need to give our spouse our best attention by looking him/her in the eyes and listening without distractions or wandering thoughts. This will allow us to really hear what our spouse has to say, and it will cultivate a closer connection and understanding between us.
For more on this, please read “When You Feel Like Your Spouse Doesn’t Want You Around,” by clicking here.