A Rookie mistake

I consider myself a fairly intelligent guy. So why is it that I can't get it through my head that I need to spend more time listening and less time talking? This is especially true with my wife. I tend to be a fixer, a director, a manager. I see a problem and I immediately go about solving it. While this can come in handy when working with a client, it isn't so useful with my wife. Rather than fixing, I need to be listening. That doesn't sound that hard, does it? But throwing a football doesn't seem that hard either, but to do it as well as two-time Super Bowl-winning Steeler QB Ben Rothlisberger you have to practice for years, and practice some more. In the scheme of my listening skills, I'm just playing Pop Warner football, and I'm a rookie on the team, at that. I just hate Lisa has to pay the price for my lack of skill.

I was telling my sponsor about how Lisa just doesn't seem to understand how I feel. That it hurts my feelings when she gets angry and takes it out on me. Like a good sponsor, he basically told me to get off the cross, we need the wood. My self-centeredness was kicking in. It isn't about me. It is about being a good husband, listening to Lisa, being there for her. I must put my pride away. I pray every day that God will give me the strength to avoid selfish thinking and actions. I welcome your prayers as well. I can use all the help I can get. Maybe one day I can be the Ben Rothlisberger of husbands.

In any addiction, once you are sober, that's when the real work starts.

God bless,
David