From TODAY Thursday July 24, 2008
By Dr James Dobson
One of the most common sources of conflict between married couples is caused by differing assumptions.
Some years ago, I had a hectic professional life. I was a full-time professor at a medical school and also travelling and speaking far more than usual. I exhausted myself during this time. Finally, I had earned a badly-needed day off, and I had planned to watch a football game that Saturday.
My wife also felt that she had paid her dues. For six weeks, she had taken care of the kids and run the home. It was entirely reasonable that I spend my Saturday doing things that she wanted done around the house.
Both of us had a right to feel as we did, but the two ideas were simply incompatible. On Saturday morning, when she asked me to clean the backyard umbrella, there was an exchange of harsh words that took us about three days to recover from.
Neither of us was looking for a fight, yet we both felt misunderstood and hurt by the other. Our conflict was typical of what goes on every day in a million other homes. It all came down to differing assumptions.
By Dr James Dobson
One of the most common sources of conflict between married couples is caused by differing assumptions.
Some years ago, I had a hectic professional life. I was a full-time professor at a medical school and also travelling and speaking far more than usual. I exhausted myself during this time. Finally, I had earned a badly-needed day off, and I had planned to watch a football game that Saturday.
My wife also felt that she had paid her dues. For six weeks, she had taken care of the kids and run the home. It was entirely reasonable that I spend my Saturday doing things that she wanted done around the house.
Both of us had a right to feel as we did, but the two ideas were simply incompatible. On Saturday morning, when she asked me to clean the backyard umbrella, there was an exchange of harsh words that took us about three days to recover from.
Neither of us was looking for a fight, yet we both felt misunderstood and hurt by the other. Our conflict was typical of what goes on every day in a million other homes. It all came down to differing assumptions.
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