Brave Enough To Be Bliss

men, do you?” I said, “I thought I did.” She said, “You need to read the book, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus .” I said, “O K , I will, but when we see your husband and son this weekend, let’s ask them to see how they would respond.” Her husband and son were two of the sweetest men I knew. I was pretty sure I could have asked them to do anything and if they could help, they would. So, the weekend came around and I was looking forward to proving my friend wrong. Separately, I asked each of them, “If I sent you a text message saying, ‘How do you feel about mouse removal?’ What would you text me back?” While I asked separately, each of them responded with something like, “Yuck,” or “It sucks.” I then asked, “W ould you say anything else? ” They each looked at me sort of like, what do you want me to say? Her husband of 25+ years slowly got it and said, “Oh, you wanted to know if I’d get rid of it for you?” And I said, “Yes,” saying it sort of like, “Duh?” He said, and I kid you not, “I’d tell you to sweep it into the grass or something. ” Well, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. When I quickly moved on to their son, he was very direct and just said, “That’s not what you asked. You asked how I felt about mouse removal.” I listened to Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus while exercising for the next couple weeks and it was an extremely eye-opening experience. It felt like the author knew about my relationship with my husband, including specific instances, thoughts in my head, responses, behaviors, etc. I finished the book feeling very badly about all the things I had made up in my mind, how I interacted with my husband all those years and for a number of things I had already thought and done with John.

I understood how to work effectively with a man, but I still had a lot more to learn in general about men and myself in order to have a healthy romantic relationship with one.

“Listening is not simply hearing the words that are spoken. Listening is understanding why the words were spoken.” Simon Sinek

Resources ▪ Amazon.com: Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships: 9780060168483: Gray, John: Books ▪ Katie & Gay Hendricks's Hearts In Harmony: Love & Relationship Advice Articles (heartsintrueharmony.com) ▪ Relationship Advice Featured Articles (flourishtogether.com) ▪ Attachment Styles Quiz | Attachment Test (traumasolutions.com) ▪ What’s Your Listening Style? (hbr.org) ▪ Kyle Cease | Your Ego Will Choose The Wrong Person - Kyle Cease | Instagram

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