{"id":4935,"date":"2015-03-20T13:01:30","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T18:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davewillis\/?p=2175"},"modified":"2015-03-20T13:01:30","modified_gmt":"2015-03-20T18:01:30","slug":"overcoming-incompatibility-in-marriage-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davewillis\/overcoming-incompatibility-in-marriage-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming ‘Incompatibility’ in Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Below are 4 simple ways to grow closer to your spouse<\/strong> and overcome \u201cincompatibility\u201d, but first, I have to tell you an amazing story\u2026<\/p>\n

My wife,\u00a0Ashley<\/a>, and I just had lunch with a wonderful friend of ours. She was telling us what\u00a0happened after her divorce from her now ex-husband (he is also a good friend of ours).<\/p>\n

She said that after the divorce, when she felt she was ready to start dating again, her friends talked her into getting an account on match.com<\/em>. She received her first list of potential matches and at the very top of the list, her top match out of thousands of potential men was none other than her ex-husband! I promise, I\u2019m not making this up!<\/p>\n

It got me thinking about all the messages I receive from a husband or wife who feel that they\u2019ve lost the spark in their marriage. They feel that they\u2019ve fallen out of love or they\u2019ve somehow grown incompatible with their spouse. Certainly, there are time when a husband and wife must overcome massive differences in opinion and perspective, but I\u2019m convinced marriages fail not from a lack of compatibility but rather from a lack of commitment.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a><\/p>\n

In those moments when you don\u2019t feel as close to your spouse as you once were, and perhaps you\u2019re tempted to think your incompatibilities are irreconcilable, I encourage you to pause and try the following. These simple actions can take those feelings of incompatibility and replace them with feelings of intimacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Spend more time communicating.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The more you communicate the more you\u2019ll understand each other\u2019s perspectives. When you each have a different perspective, it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re incompatible and it doesn\u2019t mean one of you is right and the other is wrong. It\u2019s an opportunity to see every situation with more perspective and depth by working together in harmony.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Spend more time laughing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Laughter should fill the soundtrack of your marriage. Have you ever noticed that when you laugh with someone, you instantly feel closer to them?<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Spend more time encouraging.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re focused on your spouse\u2019s flaws or quirks, you\u2019ll always be seeing them through a negative lens. Be your spouse\u2019s biggest encourager; not their biggest critic! Focus on the best in them, and you\u2019ll end up discovering the best in your marriage.<\/p>\n

\"Be<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Spend more time flirting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bring the playfulness, seduction and flirtation to your marriage. Keep your eyes focused on each other and not on somebody else. Don\u2019t ever look outside the marriage for someone other than your spouse to fulfill these desires.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a><\/p>\n

And above all, just don\u2019t give up on each other! Marriages don\u2019t survive or thrive because of \u201ccompatibility.\u201d Marriages make it because of commitment.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a><\/p>\n

For more tools to help you build a rock-solid marriage,\u00a0connect with me on Facebook by clicking here<\/a>\u00a0and check out my FREE\u00a0video on \u201cHow to have a stronger marriage.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Featured Image Credit: Wikicommons<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Below are 4 simple ways to grow closer to your spouse and overcome \u201cincompatibility\u201d, but first, I have to tell you an amazing story\u2026 My wife,\u00a0Ashley, and I just had lunch with a wonderful friend of ours. She was telling us what\u00a0happened after her divorce from her now ex-husband (he is also a good friend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2136,"featured_media":4628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marriage"],"yoast_head":"\nOvercoming 'Incompatibility' in Marriage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Below are 4 simple ways to grow closer to your spouse and overcome "incompatibility", but first, I have to tell you an amazing story... 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