It doesn’t take much effort at all to destroy a relationship.
In fact, it’s quite easy.
Just follow your feelings and give energy to every little negative thought in your head and you won’t just be sauntering down the road of destruction, you’ll be running down it. Not only that you’ll likely run from one relationship to another.
Need more specific direction? Here are five easy steps to wreck your marriage:
Be selfish.
After all, life is all about you, right? The way YOU like things done. The way YOU’RE used to communicating. The way YOU want to spend the weekend. You give, give, give everywhere else, but you’re not giving at home. Your spouse hasn’t been working nearly as hard as you have so you deserve for things to go as you want them to, right?
Be secretive.
Don’t even think about sharing the password on your phone and computer with your spouse. After all, a person has to have some things that are their own. When you’re running late, don’t bother to call. You don’t owe anything to anybody. Did you make some unbudgeted purchases? Make sure you hide those receipts so your spouse doesn’t find out.
Put the kids first.
Be unwilling to leave them and don’t even think about leaving them overnight. They need you, right? They need you to feed them, dress them, and put them to sleep at night. Just keep believing that your spouse doesn’t need you like the kids need you. Someday the kids will be gone and you can take time for the two of you then. For now, it’s kids first. Yep, that’s a really easy way to wreck your marriage.
Criticize your spouse on a regular basis.
He or she needs to know what they’re doing wrong and it’s your job to set them straight…right? Anything they do different from you is wrong, so you have to let them know that there’s only one way to do things…and that’s your way. Don’t let anything slide. Give grace…are you kidding? That’s not being truthful. Your spouse deserves the truth and you’ll give it to them. If you make them cry, it’s their fault they’re too sensitive. They just need to toughen up a bit.
Be combative.
Be defensive even if you know you were in the wrong. After all, to admit you’re wrong would be a weakness. In fact, you can get ahead of the game by just throwing all the blame their way. That keeps you with the upper hand. Oh and don’t even think about apologizing or forgiving. That would cause you to lose any ground you’ve gained with defensiveness and blame, and would certainly slow down the progress you’re making on wrecking your marriage.
While we hope our sarcasm is clear, these really are five easy ways to ruin your marriage. No question about it, if you push through your sense of ownership, responsibility, humility, kindness, sensitivity, love, forgiveness, compassion, or acceptance, you’ll begin to expand the relational distance between you and your spouse. And before you know it, that can quickly become a tragedy that didn’t need to happen.
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This is so funny Jill! It’s true, but by presenting it in this fashion, it helps you laugh as you are reminded what to do and not do. Thanks for this excellent post.
This is smack-ya-right-up-the-side-of-the-head right on.
What a great description!