Eight Dates: Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love<\/em>. Each date is focused on a topic crucial to a healthy relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI do!\u201d I said, not giving him a chance to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Date One is \u201cLean on Me: Trust and Commitment.\u201d Conversation topics include: What does trust and commitment look like in our relationship? How can we make each other feel safe? What are our agreements about trust and commitment?
After reading that chapter earlier in the day, I followed the directions in the book and compiled a list of things I cherish about Sean. While there were many things on my list, there were ten that stood out. I envisioned sharing in David Letterman Top 10 List fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trust, Cherishing, and Commitment<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
When we cherish our partner, we feel that they\u2019re irreplaceable. We simply cannot imagine our lives without them, even when times are rough. We find ways to tell them that we appreciate them, and do that often. This builds trust in the relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cherishing and commitment go together, but they\u2019re different. Commitment is really a verb because it is the actions we take daily to let our partner know we are with them, and that we make decisions with them in mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we choose commitment, we resist temptation to betray our partner. We create trust and safety by turning towards them to work out our differences. Gratitude is nurtured by knowing what we have rather than focusing on what we don\u2019t have. There is no gossiping or trashing of our partner to others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commitment in Action<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Sean and I have had our share of difficult times, that\u2019s for sure. When our son was a colicky infant we leaned on each other for support despite being sleep deprived and cranky with one another. When my mother and beloved dog both died in the same year, I had a hard time shaking off my depression. We argued more than ever and found ourselves in couples counseling. Despite these and other challenges, we never gave up on one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thing that sealed the deal for me was when I had a major health crisis 12 years ago. My mysterious illness had my doctors stumped and I was terrified. Our lives were turned upside down for months on end with scary symptoms and no treatment. My life and my outlook were forever changed. It wasn\u2019t until I got a diagnosis and learned to manage my chronic symptoms that I could reflect on how it changed us as a couple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had been too absorbed in my own fear to recognize how scared my husband was, too. His life was also forever changed. But instead of complaining, he expressed cherishing and commitment by supporting me through my illness in ways that I took for granted at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He rubbed my back when I was scared. He drove me to the Emergency Room in the middle of the night on countless occasions. When I had to change my diet, he joined me. He developed a patience with me that had not been there before. He was less quick to anger over small stuff and he started leaving love notes for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While he never came out and said it, almost losing me made him realize how much I meant to him. I felt loved and cared for. We now joke that my near-death experience is the secret to our healthy marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thinking Out Loud<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
As I compiled my Top 10 List for our date, I realized I was describing our everyday life. I wrote down things like playing and laughing together, and that we get each other\u2019s sense of humor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wrote down raising a child and dogs together, a connection that is precious to us but was often fraught with stress, cleaning up bodily functions and money we could have spent in far more fun ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wrote down being comfortable to be myself with Sean and having my faults and bad habits accepted. And that includes binge eating noodles, knowing full well I will complain about it afterwards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song was still playing as I started reading my list to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So honey now<\/em>
Take me into your loving arms<\/em>
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars<\/em>
Place your head on my beating heart<\/em>
I\u2019m thinking out loud<\/em>
Maybe we found love right where we are<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nYes, I believe we have found love right where we are. And I could hardly wait to tell him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mary Beth George, March 6, 2019 Source: https:\/\/www.gottman.com\/blog\/what-does-trust-and-commitment-look-like-in-a-relationship\/ With bellies miserably full of Thai beef and noodles, he washed the dishes and I dried. \u201cThinking Out Loud\u201d by Ed Sheeran was playing in the background. When your legs don\u2019t work like they used to beforeAnd I can\u2019t sweep you off of your feetWill your mouth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1103,564,1120],"tags":[608,1152,1154,1147],"class_list":["post-2630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyondchai","category-featured-posts","category-healthy-relationships","tag-marriage-advice","tag-muslim-website-for-marriage","tag-online-dating-service-for-marriage","tag-single-muslims"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2630"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3267,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2630\/revisions\/3267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondchai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}