"Something as curious as the monarchy won't survive unless you take account of people's attitudes. After all, if people don't want it, they won't have it."Prince Charles
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Cooking Up A Plan. Organizing In The Kitchen
COOKING UP A PLANOrganizing In The KitchenThe kitchen is an area of your home which gets used more often than most other areas. It stands to reason, that if your kitchen were more organized and simple to use, that your life would feel easier. Here are ten ...
Tips For Less Holiday Stress
Holiday Stress? Some Tips For Having Less We all dream of having wonderful holidays. We start each day full of the spirit of the season. We look at the lovely fresh fallen snow, and marvel at the beauty of the world. But lets face it - life can be ...
Whatever Happened to Christmas?
Remember when no one started Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving? Wisconsin author LeAnn R. Ralph remembers it very well. "When I was growing up on our dairy farm forty years ago, the stores didn't put up Christmas displays until the day after ...
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Do you ever disagree with your spouse? Or your boyfriend or girlfriend? Of course not – she/he/it is perfect, right?
You can imagine my shock when my friend confided in me that he and his wife often fought over tiny things.
"You're kidding."
"Yes, we fight over the tiniest, most unimportant things," he confirmed.
"Well, why don't you just let her have her way then?"
"Because we also fight over big, important things," he admitted.
"What about compromise?"
"We do that all the time," he responded.
"So what's the problem?"
"The problem is that she wins most of the compromises."
Compromises are never easy. A reasonable compromise is when both parties feel they won. A truly great compromise is when both parties know they lost.
The problem is that even the most modest of us, when thrust into the perils of compromise, have inflatable egos.
For instance, my wife and I were recently waging compromise, and I don't even recall what diplomatic gaffe I had committed. But she was determined to set me straight. "Don't be so premature," my wife scolded.
"Premature?"
"Amateur, then," she said.
"Amateur?
"No, the other word. Stop acting like a such child!" she shouted, looking for a dictionary.
God gave us dictionaries so we wouldn't have to spell. They are big books with small print, and trying to find anything in them shortens fuses and, in the heat of compromise, can only lead to dictionary projectile injuries. Fortunately, our house is messy enough to conceal even the largest dictionary.
Which is why, when compromise is imminent, I occasionally find myself dripping wet.
Water never hurt anyone, I tell myself. Then I remember Noah. And Jack. And Jill. But so far, I have avoided drowning in my own
sorrow, which probably means I am losing fewer compromises than my brother.
Our house lives in an era of an uneasy truce. Fortunately, nobody is bent on world domination.
If I would just learn to put the toilet seat down or wipe the counter after myself, I could strike a diplomatic coup. However, if I did, I would have to fork out for an embassy reception, and my wife is the only caterer in the house. Plus it would force her into a most uncomfortable corner of having to put the other toilet seat down and close the lights when she leaves the room to avoid a diplomatic faux pas.
Being a loving husband, I am determined to protect my wife from any discomfort in her own house (or having to cater a diplomatic reception), so I resist the temptation to score such a diplomatic coup and I continue to leave counter tops wet.
It is sometimes for the greater good to allow a friendly exchange of sniper fire, taking cover if it looks like it might get out of hand. The world is a much more peaceful place when we just accept that we can all happily get along, and that we are in no real danger living perpetually on the brink of compromise.
David Leonhardt is author of Climb Your Stairway to Heaven
http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/books?isbn=059517826X
Read more personal growth articles:
http://www.thehappyguy.com/self-actualization-articles.html
Visit his liquid vitamins store:
http://www.vitamin-supplements-store.net
Or his happiness website:
http://www.thehappyguy.com
Info@thehappyguy.com
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Finding Happiness in the DirtPatch.comI'm not talking about discovering the joy of gardening or increasing your appreciation of the outdoors—although I highly recommend both. Back in 2007, a study at the University of Bristol showed that a bacterium commonly found in soil triggered the ... |
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'Happiness Is a Chemical in the Brain': reviewSan Francisco ChronicleThis story is exclusive to the Chronicle's Sunday print edition and will not appear on SFGate.com until 3:00 AM on Monday, May 28. To read this and other exclusive print stories today, subscribe to The Chronicle's iPad app by visiting ...and more » |
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Happiness for Bhutan Olympians is not goldenChina DailyNeither Sherab nor Kunzang expect to win medals for Bhutan, an impoverished, largely Buddhist country between India and China which only opened up to foreigners in 1974, banned television until 1999, and uses happiness to measure its success. |
Bloomberg |
World's Happiest CountriesBloombergBy Andy Reinhardt - 2012-05-25T15:21:49Z People all over the world are fascinated by happiness rankings and how their own countries fare in global league tables. In some places, such as Britain, ratings of national well-being aren't just a matter for ... |
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