A
marriage is either in an upward
spiral, building on your love, trust and understanding of one another or it’s
headed in a downward spiral. There’s no in between. (The “in between” would be
a symptom of the downward spiral.)
Reflect
on this for a minute: Are your times of distress, unhappiness and pain in your
relationship:
More
frequent? More emotionally distressing and intense?
Do
find yourself cycling back into the same old arguments/distance/pain and feel
there is no way out?
Often
you wait too long. You keep going over the same painful distressful territory,
time and time again. Eventually you give up. You shift your focus to your work,
your children, your hobbies or something else.
Of
course you don’t do this intentionally. It’s more like the proverbial frog in
the water who doesn’t feel the heat rising.
And, then one day, all hell breaks loose.
You
discover your spouse is having an affair. Your spouse raises the “D” word. The
business fails and you blame rather than support. A family crisis rears its
head and the two of you can barely manage.
Here’s
a fact: The pain was incessant. The distance icing. The anger out of control.
The cycle so ingrained that each struggled to breath around each other.
You
can prevent your marriage from spiralling down and crashing and it’s easier, less expensive, less
time-consuming and less fearful than you think
The
big question is, if a relationship of deep emotional investment is so important
and you long so desperately for intimacy, understanding and love, why does your
marriage spiral downward?
What
makes it so difficult for you to avoid the crash and burn?
Why
are so many people miserable in their marriage?
Why
is the younger generation reluctant to “tie the knot?”
You
are bombarded by the Need to Emotionally Fuse and It’s Killing Your Marriage
The
concept of Emotional Fusion goes
back 40 years or more and has been written about on numerous occasions in the Marital Therapy Field.
Emotional
Fusion means two in a relationship are emotionally locked. Each expects the
other to make him/her feel better, to meet needs and make life “complete.” Each
focuses on the other as the saviour or the one responsible.
The
cartoon on the right gives a flavour of emotional fusion. Distance, coolness,
reactivity, apathy, consistent conflict, withdrawal and even civil politeness
are symptoms of Emotional Fusion.
Emotional Fusion results in:
Feeling
a pressure to perform, please, accommodate or react against.
Short
term solutions (let’s have a romantic weekend at a bed and breakfast! Or, go to
a marriage seminar.)
Phoniness,
game playing and mind reading
The
“Spirit” (passion) of each, and the marriage, is squelched.
Emotional fusion is seductive. Moving closer, talking it out, getting
at feelings, being romantic, meeting the other’s needs seems the logical route,
does it not?
If
so, why do these strategies, if they work, seem to only alleviate temporarily
the pain? Six months down the road, here it comes again: that familiar downward
spiral.
These
traditional strategies, espoused by many around you, focus on Emotional Fusion, NOT Emotional
Engagement.
You need more. You need something that digs beneath the surface. And, that something is easier, less costly and less fearful than you might imagine.
Learning
new tricks, phrases, gimmicks, behavioral changes to MAKE your spouse “work on”
the marriage will be futile. You are
just driving the important issues underground and in the long run, you will
fail…and your marriage will fail!
Understand? Get this? This is important.
Understand? Get this? This is important.
Both
genders (or types) must be honored and served. This is VITAL if your marriage or relationship is to be
healthy, give joy, passion and excitement for the future.
8 Critical Keys to Saving Your
Marriage
Key
#1: You must unlearn much of what you have learned and absorbed about
marriage, love and relationships.
Key #2: You Must Feel Safe with Your Spouse and her/him with You
Key #3: You Must Have Something to Give
Key #4: You Must Speak Your “Voice”
Key #5: You Must Make Distinctions
Key #6: You Must Make Shifts
Key #7: You Must be able to Meta-Comment
Key #8: You must have a process that keeps you focused
So, here's exactly What You Need To Do
Right Now...
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