I have "tone of voice" issues!

We came home from five straight days on the road where we presented twelve sessions over those five days...WHEW!

Well the next day we were both tired to say the least and I woke up "with a tone" in my voice. Now, I don't know how it gets there, and honestly I often don't even realize I've acquired it...but Laura has SONAR that picks it up immediately.

So throughout this particular day Laura repeatedly waffled between the following two statements:
"Don't talk to me like that!" and
"Why won't you talk to me?"

Do you see my dilemma? When she first said "Don't talk to me like that!" I obliged, thinking, "Fine, I won't talk to you at all". Which then prompted from her "Why won't you talk to me?" When I did the "tone" prompted "Don't talk to me like that!" and the vicious cycle continued.

While we laugh about it now, it was a TOUGH day to say the least and honestly I thought...SHEESH, we've spent the last five days helping other marriages and then we have a day like THIS?!?

Reality check: You married a HUMAN...Imperfect and fallen. Understand that there will be bad days, sometimes weeks and occasionally months when you and your spouse just don't "Click".

The best way to insure that those bad days don't turn into months is to TALK IT THROUGH...Laura and I do this best on our daily run together, we're so out of breath that we can't yell and we are too tired to bicker.

Maybe for you it's over your morning coffee or right before you go to bed. For us, talking it through is the only way to vanquish the Imperfect Human qualities that creep into our marriage.

Blessings

Jay

A great story for these times

Be sure to read the "moral" at the end!
One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours asthe farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway;it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping,never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.

Live simply and appreciate what you have.

Give more.

Expect less

NOW .......

Enough of that crap. The donkey later came back, and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON:

When you do something wrong, and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you.

Blessings!

J& L

We're officially "OLD"

Laura and I were working out in our yard late this afternoon. I was mowing the lawn and Laura was cleaning out the flower beds and pots.

That in and of itself doesn't make us old...just responsible :-)

One would have to look closely to understand WHY we're old...I was wearing sweatpants, sweatshirt and work gloves and was complaining still about being cold.

Laura was in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt complaining about being hot!

What role reversal from 25 years ago!

Blessings~

Jay & Laura