I’m in the middle of writing a book on handling emotions in marriage. In the beginning, I thought I was the perfect guy for the job. After all, I must be in touch with my emotions because I cry at manipulative holiday grocery store ads,...
Early in our marriage, my wife told me several times that she had challenges with a coworker. I felt terrible for my wife. I wanted her to love her job, and this situation stood in the way. Because this was an ongoing situation, I offered...
Do you ever wonder why there are times when you can get so mad so easily with your wife? Does your anger lead to you saying or doing things you swore you would never say or do again? Maybe you swore to stop being passive-aggressive,...
My phone recently did that magical thing of creating an unsolicited slideshow. This time, it was a highlight video of the year. Watching it, I thought, “Wow, overall, all our kids are doing really good.” And as someone who has been a dad since 2000,...
Once, I overheard a couple arguing in a booth next to me at a restaurant. First of all, it was really funny. They were doing that thing I call whisper yelling—you know, when you try to be quiet enough not to be overheard but certainly...
I recently overheard a couple arguing in Walmart about the important issue of—wait for it—what brand of allergy medicine to purchase. It was less of an argument and more of the husband's frustrated monologue. While what brand of allergy medicine to choose is no big...
If you're trying to learn how to improve your marriage, well done. It may not be as complicated as you think. Sure, your spouse may be complicated, your situation may be complicated, and you are certainly complicated. But often it’s the uncomplicated, micro moves that...
Sabotaging your marriage can come from a culprit you've maybe never thought of—your inner critic. Part of my job is speaking at events. For years, after speaking, my inner critic immediately, hurtfully, and hatefully told me everything I should and shouldn’t have said on stage....
There was a fascinating brain scan study focused on married couples who reported being madly in love after an average of 21 years. One of the commonalities of these happy couples’ brains was an area of the brain responsible for positive illusion. Positive illusion is...
As a young dad, I dove into parenting books. But despite my good intentions, I somehow made a major false assumption: All parts of a child can be molded or changed with the right parenting approach. Looking back, it is so clear that this is...