A week after our daughter Lauren was born, my
wife Bonnie and I were completely exhausted. Each night Lauren kept walking us.
Bonnie had been torn in the delivery and was taking painkillers. She could
barely walk. After five days of staying home to help, I went back to work. She
seemed to be getting better.
When I was away she ran out of pain pills.
Instead of calling me at the office, she asked one of my brothers who was
visiting, to purchase more. My brother however did not return with the pills.
Consequently, she spent the whole day in pain, taking care of a newborn.
I had no idea that her day been so awful.
When I returned home she was very upset. I misinterpreted the cause of her
distress and thought she was blaming me.
She said, “I’ve been in pain all the day… I
ran out of pills. I’ve been stranded in bed and nobody cares!”
I said defensively, “Why didn’t you call me?”
She said , “I asked your brother, but he
forgot! I’ve been waiting for him to return all day. What am I supposed to do?
I can barely walk. I feel so deserted!”
At
this point I exploded. My fuse was also very short that day. I was angry that
she hadn’t called me. I was furious that she was blaming me when I didn’t even
know she was in pain. After exchanging a few harsh words, I headed for the
door. I was tired, irritable and had heard enough. We had both reached out
limits.
Then something started to happen that would
change my life.
Bonnie said, “ Stop, please don’t leave. This
when I need you the most. I’m in pain. I haven’t slept in days. Please listen
to me.”
I stopped for a moment to listen.
She said, “John Gray, you’re a fair-weather
friend! As long as I’m sweet, loving Bonnie you are here for me, but as soon as
I’m not, you walk right out that door”.
The
she paused, and her eyes filled up with tears. As her tone shifted she said, “Right
now I’m in pain. I have nothing to give, this is why I need you the most.
Please come over here and hold me. You don’t have to say anything. I just need
to feel your arms around me. Please don’t go.
I walked over and silently held her. She wept
in my arms. After a few minutes, she thanked me for not leaving. She told me
that she just needed to feel me holding her.
At
that moment, I started to realize the real meaning of love-unconditional love.
I had always thought of myself as a loving person. But she was right. I had
been a fair-weather friend. As long as she was happy and nice, I loved back.
But if she was unhappy or upset, I would feel blamed and then argue or distance
myself.
That day, for the first time, I didn’t leave
her. I stayed and it felt great. I succeeded in giving to her when she really
needed me. This felt the real love. Caring for another person. Trusting in our
love. Being there at her hour of need. I marveled at how easy it was for me to
support her when I was shown the way.
How had I missed this? She just needed me to
go over and hold her. Another woman would have instinctively known that Bonnie
needed. But as a man, I didn’t know that touching, holding dan listening were
so important to her. By recognizing these differences I began to learn a new
way of relating my wife. I would have never believed we could resolve conflict
so easily.
It inspired my seven years of research to
help develop and refine the insights about men and women in this book. By
learning in very practical and specific terms about how men and women are
different, I suddenly began to realize that my marriage did not need to be such
a struggle. With this new awareness of our differences Bonnie and I were able
to improve dramatically our communication and enjoy each other more.
“Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”
So, let’s read this book, as a preparation to
get married. This is important to understand the differences between men and
women in order to complement each other. ^_^
Penawarhati90
11.46 am
5 Jamadilawal 1435 H or 7th March 2014
Pulau Langkawi, Kedah.
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan