Can Conflict Be a Good Thing?
If you know my husband and I personally, you may know that we tend to be a little.....er..... volatile, even explosive at times. I think that is one reason we make such a good couple. WHAT? You might think I am crazy, but hear me out.
When I say volatile or explosive I do not in ANY way mean abusive or violent! When we fight we never name call, ever! We never hit each other, ever!! (There was this one time when I hit him with my purse, but he really did deserve it then! haha)
What I mean by volatile and explosive is that when we get angry we do not stuff it down inside. We tell each other what we think. We talk andsome times most of the time yell it over! It has taken us awhile to get to this point in our relationship. But, I believe that we communicate better now and that there is a benefit to this type of relationship.
My husband and I had a, shall we say, little fight over the weekend. I saw the situation one way and he saw it differently. I thought I hadn't done anything wrong (which I hadn't...at first) and he thought he hadn't done anything wrong (which in reality the only thing he did wrong was hurt my feelings).
I was so upset that I became disrespectful. He tried to calmly talk to me about it in the beginning. He sat down next to me and tried to hear my heart about the situation. I was so hurt, I couldn't see at the time what he was doing. Looking back, it would be at this point that I open up and share all that I was feeling with him. But I did not. I remained angry and soon became bitter. This bitterness drove me to act disrespectfully towards him.
All day I thought about how I had been hurt! How he doesn't deserve the amazing wife that I am (prideful much! ouch!!) I thought 'no way will I serve him dinner tonight!!' Come dinner time, I did serve him. I threw the plate in front of him and didn't say a thing. He didn't touch it. Later after the kids were in bed and I noticed that he hadn't eaten dinner. I asked him why.
"Because I can take care of myself!"
"I know you can, but you usually eat what I make."
"You usually don't serve it like you did."
At this point I realized that he wasn't reacting to the initial situation. Our anger towards each other was now about my disrespect towards him. Realizing we would never resolve the initial issue with my disrespectful attitude hanging over us I acted quick. I threw my hands in the air and shouted "STOP! Lets start over! I am sorry I have been disrespectful! I am hurt and feel like you didn't consider my feelings."
At this point he gave me a hug and told me he loved me. And now we were free to talk about the initial issue, and get it resolved!
When fighting with your husband here is my advice:
one
Try to see it from his point of few. This is so had to do when you feel like you have been wronged. But, had I done this, we wouldn't have wasted the entire day fighting!
Two
Don't make the situation worse by adding your disrespect on top. No matter how wronged we feel we were, if we retaliate with disrespect, then it becomes about our behavior and not theirs.
Three
Communicate! Communicate how ever best you communicate as a couple. Talk, yell. write a note- do something! Nothing gets resolved if no one is talking. Giving the silent treatment doesn't resolve anything! Sure, you may have to make the first move and give a little. But, I would rather be the first to say sorry, then 'win' the silent treatment game! Who wins in that situation? No one!
Four
Believe the best in him. My feelings got hurt, but I don't think he set out to try to hurt me. If I had remembered that, we may not have spent the day arguing!
Good luck, and happy arguing! haha
When I say volatile or explosive I do not in ANY way mean abusive or violent! When we fight we never name call, ever! We never hit each other, ever!! (There was this one time when I hit him with my purse, but he really did deserve it then! haha)
What I mean by volatile and explosive is that when we get angry we do not stuff it down inside. We tell each other what we think. We talk and
My husband and I had a, shall we say, little fight over the weekend. I saw the situation one way and he saw it differently. I thought I hadn't done anything wrong (which I hadn't...at first) and he thought he hadn't done anything wrong (which in reality the only thing he did wrong was hurt my feelings).
I was so upset that I became disrespectful. He tried to calmly talk to me about it in the beginning. He sat down next to me and tried to hear my heart about the situation. I was so hurt, I couldn't see at the time what he was doing. Looking back, it would be at this point that I open up and share all that I was feeling with him. But I did not. I remained angry and soon became bitter. This bitterness drove me to act disrespectfully towards him.
All day I thought about how I had been hurt! How he doesn't deserve the amazing wife that I am (prideful much! ouch!!) I thought 'no way will I serve him dinner tonight!!' Come dinner time, I did serve him. I threw the plate in front of him and didn't say a thing. He didn't touch it. Later after the kids were in bed and I noticed that he hadn't eaten dinner. I asked him why.
"Because I can take care of myself!"
"I know you can, but you usually eat what I make."
"You usually don't serve it like you did."
At this point I realized that he wasn't reacting to the initial situation. Our anger towards each other was now about my disrespect towards him. Realizing we would never resolve the initial issue with my disrespectful attitude hanging over us I acted quick. I threw my hands in the air and shouted "STOP! Lets start over! I am sorry I have been disrespectful! I am hurt and feel like you didn't consider my feelings."
At this point he gave me a hug and told me he loved me. And now we were free to talk about the initial issue, and get it resolved!
When fighting with your husband here is my advice:
one
Try to see it from his point of few. This is so had to do when you feel like you have been wronged. But, had I done this, we wouldn't have wasted the entire day fighting!
Two
Don't make the situation worse by adding your disrespect on top. No matter how wronged we feel we were, if we retaliate with disrespect, then it becomes about our behavior and not theirs.
Three
Communicate! Communicate how ever best you communicate as a couple. Talk, yell. write a note- do something! Nothing gets resolved if no one is talking. Giving the silent treatment doesn't resolve anything! Sure, you may have to make the first move and give a little. But, I would rather be the first to say sorry, then 'win' the silent treatment game! Who wins in that situation? No one!
Four
Believe the best in him. My feelings got hurt, but I don't think he set out to try to hurt me. If I had remembered that, we may not have spent the day arguing!
Good luck, and happy arguing! haha
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself,
and the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 5:33
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