Several other bloggers and I worked through The Respect Dare. Join me on my journey!
This Dare tells us to speak wisely and carefully and to encourage our husbands. The questions are about how we respond when our husbands confide in us and how we give advice.
Although this entire Respect Dare process has posed some difficult internal struggles for me, it is also helping me see progress I’ve already made over the past few years without even realizing it. With many of the questions, I find that my initial response reflects the behavior I used to have before I started working on making change in my marriage. When I look at who and how I am now, though, I get very different answers.
I answered them myself. I found myself bouncing back and forth between the way I remember handling things in the past and the way I handle them now. I was seeing through past and present lenses at the same time. With several of these questions, I didn’t know how to answer.
Then I asked my husband what he thought. And, woo-hoo! One of the questions is, “What can you do to become a wife who is held in high esteem and respected by your husband as being a safe confidante?” Big Guy says I’m already there. J Actually, he says I’m doing well with every single item in this Dare.
So what is my lesson here? As far as speaking wisely and carefully, I’m not where I would like to be but I have made efforts that have paid off. My take-away is not about how I speak to my husband (surprising, since I think of that as an area where I stink).
Instead, I find myself aware of how my perception is not the same as my husband’s. I see our interactions through eyes that are connected to my own heart. I see through the perspective of my feelings and my inner struggle. My husband does not see these things in the same way as I do. While I believe my perception is true, it does not provide the whole picture that is seen by others, particularly by my husband.
This is something I want to mull over for a bit. I want to understand other perspectives, but the thought that they may contradict my own makes me nervous. How can I function if I can’t even trust my own perceptions? I want to say that the prospect scares me—but somehow, it doesn’t scare me as much as intrigue me and make me unsettled.
So, Respect Dare sisters, how are you all doing?
Image credit | Christianpics.co
I've moved! While you can peruse the archives here, I am no longer posting at The Forgiven Wife.
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Ladies, if you're interested in joining me for a study of Juli Slattery's new book God, Sex, and Your Marriage, time is running out! Our study begins with introductions on February 26, 2023, but the study will be open to join until March 5.
Why does it scare you that others see you from a different perspective? Seeing ourselves from a different perspective is enlightening and seeking out other’s point of view is the road to self discovery. Sharing our perspectives is one of the beauties of writing a blog. You should embrace the different perspectives.
It scares me that my perception of truth is might not be right. I’ve always valued multiple perspectives, but I want to be able to trust that how I see things is right. It isn”t how others see me as much as how others (specifically, my husband) and I see my experiences.
It’s a good thing to realize that our perceptions are different from others, we are not always right.
True–and in every area of my life except my marriage, I’m good with that. In my marriage, though, I’m still having an internal power struggle and don’t want to let go of certain things–including the “I’m always right” belief. Just part of my growing process here.