It can be such fun to be "one up" on another person. I recall the feeling of catching one of my friends in deception—one which I took personally. He told me he had taken care of a piece of business when he hadn’t. While on one hand I was righteously incensed, on the other I had a hint of smugness. Here I was, the "righteous" one, having my friend caught squarely in the crosswire of my critical sights. Would I confront and then quickly forgive? Or would I drag the whole thing out—confront, belittle, forgive, remind, confront, belittle and forgive again? You know-- "kick the dead horse".
The appropriate steps to take are obvious. We know, in our heads, that we are all human and capable of any array of wrongdoings. But that "eighteen inch drop" from the head to the heart is a mighty big chasm. Knowing that we need to "let go" of grudges can be a whole lot different than actually doing it.
Jean is a 35-year-old woman who came to see me about an irritating issue in her marriage. An attractive, petite woman, she enjoyed her job as a part-time clerk for a large tire company. Were it not for this one dilemma, her life would be perfect, she said.
"I have a wonderful marriage. Hal and I have been married for 15 years. Great years. I love my husband very much, and he loves me. He’s a teacher, so we have lots of time off together, especially since we don’t have children. We are active in our church, spend several weeks of the summer traveling, and are quite involved in our community."
"So what is this issue?" I asked.
"Well, for years we both smoked, so it wasn’t a big deal back then. But, he quit and I haven’t. We have both become health conscious, but he won’t get off my back about my smoking."
"How do you handle his criticism?" I wondered.
"We can’t really talk about it," she said, irritated. "When he talks about it he brings up all the ways it bothers him. He starts preaching at me, as if I hadn’t heard it all before. He belittles me, quotes statistics to me and tries to make me feel two feet tall. So, it has gotten to the point where I hide it from him now."
"Tell me more about that, Jean."
"I’m not proud of my smoking. No doubt about that. But, I resent him reminding me of it every day. I am respectful of his feelings. I don’t smoke in the house or car. But, I just can’t stand his preaching. I can’t take it anymore. It is effecting how I feel about him."
"Yes, I can see both sides," I said. "It can’t be easy for him to see you injure your health by smoking. But, to preach to you doesn’t help anything."
How can Jean and Hal emerge from their power struggle with their marriage intact? We shouldn’t look for any magic pills, but we can look for real answers. Consider what worked for them and how it might work for your marriage as well.
