I’m a firm believer and I have blogged about picking your battles when it comes to raising teenagers. But I think the same can be said about a marriage.
In fact, it seems that we tend to be a bit more nit-picky in our marriages than in any other relationship. Slight irritations can be made into huge deals. Those things we knew about our spouse when we married them suddenly becomes impossible to live with another day.
But many of those irritations and frustrations we may experience in a marriage are just not worth the battle.
You know the old scenario where the husband doesn’t put the toilet seat down or the wife doesn’t put the cap on the toothpaste. The couple becomes frustrated with each other but it then escalates into a full-blown fight.
Do these irritations really matter in the grand scheme of things? I mean, I’m just as guilty for getting worked up over dumb stuff. But when I can take the time to really think through my irrationality, I realize how trivial it really is.
After being married for more than a couple of decades, seeing our oldest child become an adult and nearing that time he leaves…realizing how quickly our other two children are growing up, the realization of that empty nest is much bigger. Pretty soon it will be just him and I.
Do I really want to spend the rest of my life arguing about the fact that he doesn’t hang up his clothes? Or that he lets his papers pile up next to the phone? Or that he never seems to notice when the paper towel holder needs replacing?
These really aren’t battles worth engaging in. I would rather call it a truce and live in peace. What about you? What battles in your marriage will you pick and choose? Which ones aren’t worth fighting for?
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Photo by Mats Halldin in Wikipedia