Most books that I read about marriage are from a Christian world view. This book is secular and well done. The author tells her own personal story, deals with lies that we often believe, tells lots of helpful stories, and has exercises to help you move forward.
Some things that I liked from the book...
You have to love, honor, and cherish someone in a balanced triangle.
People create the illusion of action by saying they're trying. When you cherish each other, you are interested in meeting each other's needs.
The author encourages mirroring, validation, and empathy when talking with someone.
Each encounter of disrespect with another person creates a lack of security, which breeds fear. Fear is a passion and intimacy killer. Fear of the other person and healthy, abiding love cannot live side by side. If you want a happy marriage, the safety and security of your spouse must be a priority to you.
Lessons are learned in childhood. Some people learn as children that their needs are not going to be met and they have to take control to get their own needs met. Some children grew up in a critical childhood home and constantly fight those voices as adults. If these childhood wounds are not dealt with, they will show up in relationships.
Goodness without boundaries makes victims. Women in particular are overly focused on being good. You can't say yes without being able to say no. The challenge for women is to fight centuries of being socialized to please. Make sure you aren't staying married by staying on guard and swallowing your words, your voice, or the truth.
You can't honor a person who has to live a lie to get along with you. You can't honor a person who doesn't actually exist except in your fantasy.
If you learn to manipulate your spouse with fear, by threatening infidelity, emotional withdrawal, or other forms of emotional or physical acting out you may temporarily get what you want, but in the long run you will lose your spouse's trust, respect, and sometimes even their love.
Your choice needs to grow out of your power, not your fear.
The ultimate form of disrespect in an intimate relationship is to refuse to see the truth about the person you are committed to. This is especially the case in marriage, because this is where we tend to expose ourselves completely. When you stand before your spouse naked and vulnerable and say, "This is who I am," it is devastating to hear him or her say back, "I can't accept you, so I'm going to mold you into somebody better."
Resilient couples survive and even thrive in tough times because they did the work of creating a strong core.
Did you enter the marriage union from a place of being wounded, and remained unaware of the wounds? Who am I, and who would I be if the wound weren't in the driver's seat of my life?
Walls of protection are not bad in and of themselves. They are erected when people experience danger- emotionally, relationally, physically, sexually, spiritually, or financially. Until the source of the danger is exposed and addressed, the wall will remain intact, often becoming more fortified as the years go on. However, it can become a barrier to marital intimacy.
When you avoid doing the work that is needed, there is always more damage.
Your marriage can fail even if it doesn't end in separation or divorce, if it lacks joy, genuine passion, and mutual respect.
Set aside a few minutes every day to ask, "How was your day?" Talk about yourself, not others. "Tell me something great about your day." "Tell me something that you wished had gone better or differently. Where did you shine? Where did you shrink?" This is a great way to remind each other that the other is important.
If one person earns a salary and the other is the family caretaker, there may be a perception that the person who brings home the money has more say in how it is spent.
Maintaining your own and your partner's dignity is a fundamental requirement for a satisfying, committed relationship.
Emotional maturity insists that we commit ourselves to finding safety in the truth.
If you try to withdraw cash from the ATM and you haven't deposited money into your account, you'll receive a message : "Insufficient funds." The same is true in marriage. Often one person makes most of the deposits (of time, money, and love), while the other is always withdrawing those funds.
The vow to be committed in sickness and health means that you will strive for health- not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. This does not mean that one spouse is responsible for picking up all the pieces, or caring more than the spouse cares about themselves.
If you don't take care of yourself, you cannot care for others.
Essential to being a good lover is the ability to receive pleasure as well as give it.
Here's the secret about addicts: They are often incredibly seductive. They can be the most charismatic people in the room, the most fun to be with, and seemingly the most spiritually alive and sensitive of souls. An addict has the ability to sweep you off your feet better than almost anyone. They're excellent sales persons.
You can't have a partnership if one or both of you passes out chemically high by eight every evening or stays up late at night having an affair with the substance of choice. This can even be video games.
Two great questions of folks planning to marry. "What will make your marriage not only last, but be satisfying and mutually rewarding?" and "How do you plan to keep yourself from getting sucked into the vacuum of divorce and despair?"
Even great marriages have bad days, and sometimes bad years. Periods of conflict boredom, stress, and hardship can and do afflict every couple. That's not necessarily a bad thing; it's something that happens in the course of living a life together. The question is: What do you make of it? What does it mean to you?
When you make a vow to be with another person for as long as you both shall live, you are vowing to be alive in your marriage. To do otherwise is to squander God's most precious gifts - life and time.
What you want to get out of your marriage you must put in, and you must have a partner who shares your goals, objectives, and key values.
If you're afraid that exploring certain issues will rock the boat and capsize your relationship, then you don't have a relationship that will weather the storms of married life.
As you stop playing the guessing game and the "let's pretend" game and commit to truth, you increase your chances of creating a happy and mutually satisfying marriage.
It can be true that a person who needs frequent social engagements is looking for a constant confirmation of being okay in the eyes of the world. Conversely, a person who is overly resistant to social engagements usually has a fear of being rejected.
In good marriages people sometimes do things that don't particularly float their boat because it's good for the relationship.
When there is safety, trust and respect in the relationship, your spouse can help you see areas that are cheating you of the rich destiny that every person desires and deserves.
Many of us come to relationships feeling that we do not have enough light within ourselves to live. We need three candles. No marriage can thrive when only two candles are lit- one for "you" and one for "me." Two candles represent the glow of individuals revolving in their own spheres. Make sure you have God's light in your marriage.
There is an excellent list of childish love vs mature love on page 40-41.
The "Marriage Table" is described on page 69.
The author has 276 excellent questions to work through that start on page 159.
Draw a timeline of your marriage.
There are more marriage exercises starting on page 213.