Your Turn: Chapter 1

This chapter ends with the challange "Complete the following: " There would be fewer divorces if only people ______"

There would be fewer divorces if only people communicated.

A marriage cannot last without communication, honesty and the ability to listen closely to the words your spouse or significant other (S.O.) are telling you.
When I come to AJ with a problem, I continue to appreciate that he listens. Sometimes I have to ask, I'm not going to pretend otherwise, but once I request his full attention, he gives it. He sits, stares into my eyes and truely listens to what I have to say.

It's a lot more difficult to jump into the he said she said side of things if you truely listen. It also opens the door for communication in the style of repeating. "What I hear you saying is that I don't give you the attention that you need, right?" By repeating what the other person is saying, you're letting them know how their words are coming off.

Sometimes I'll say something to AJ, and he'll repeat what I've said and I realize that my choice of words has come across angry, sarcastic, or asking him something that is not at all what I wanted.

Other times, he'll repeat something and I realize that my undertone was giving way to a much larger problem that I hadn't even personally addressed with myself.

I truely believe that the core of every healthy relationship is communication and that there would be fewer divorces if people would just communicate.