The Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox are set for this year’s World Series. Reminded me of something I read not long ago that suggests that baseball is good for marriage. Watch the video below to find out why.

Are the Colorado Rockies Good for Marriage?
Baseball and Marriage

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Can you believe you can do marriage preparation watching a movie? Overhearing (and over-watching) others can be a great learning tool.

Rent the movie The Story of Us starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Bruce Willis. Here’s a relationship that gets into a lot of trouble.

After the movie, discuss what went wrong and how they could have prevented things going so bad.

If you’d like a free extended guide to discussing the movie go to http://www.smartmarriages.com/story.guide.html

Please note! This movie is Rated R. Every once in a while someone tells me they hated this movie!

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. (Ladies, if he literally wants to wear your clothes, you may want to get him help).

Be the other person and describe what your day is like.

We all know what our day is like and all the problems we have to deal with. But what is my partner’s day like?

Do your best to try to understand their unique challenges. What’s it like being them? Who are the people they deal with? What expectations do they face from others? What’s it like having you as their partner?

Want to go deeper? Think about past family experiences of your partner. Put yourself in those shoes and see how they affect you day to day.

This is another exercise designed to value your significant other  - to show them respect, understanding and appreciation. 

Respect for each other is very important for a health relationship.

One way of showing respect is by valuing the differences between us.

There are different types of intelligence. I was getting a battery replaced in my car the other day and the girl (yes, girl) that was putting in the battery in my car told me that her dad was very book smart. He could write a book and tell you how to disassemble a car engine and then put it back together again. But he couldn’t actually do it. She could!

Again, there are many kinds of “smarts.” Some are socially intelligent. They have a natural ability to relate well to others. Other people may not be so good in social settings, but can logically identify a problem, come up with solutions and solve it.

Our vocations differ. Over a period of time we acquire knowledge and develop skills that others do not have.

Here’s the exercise:

What is something each of you knows a lot about that the other knows little about.

What are your unique gifts and abilities?

Teach each other something.

Take time to listen and learn from each other.

Your partner will feel valued and respected.

This is a simple and fun exercise and one in which you can learn alot about each other. 

Each of you describe your favorite vacation and what made it so great.

Aside note: Gary Smalley who writes and speaks widely on marriage and family topics has found in questioning thousands of people in his seminars that the one activity that seems to bring families close more than any other single thing is camping.

There’s something about camping. The adventure, the problems you encounter along the way but pull through as a family, and the lack of distractions are probably some of the reasons so many families report camping as a family activity that made them close.

Maybe camping is not your thing. That’s ok. But think about the principle here and how you can use it to make your marriage and someday your family strong and close.

It’s not necessarily how far you go, and how much money you spend. It’s what you do and what happens along the way.

What are your thoughts? 
 

It’s fun to dream, and our dreams say a lot about what is important to us.

Let’s say you favorite uncle left you a million dollars!

What would you do with the money?

You might want to write out your answers separately, and then come together to discuss what you’ve written.

You can learn a lot about each other’s aspirations, values and hopes.

When it comes to communication and expressing love in a relationship, understanding personality differences is key.

The following exercise is one I often hear couples say they really enjoy and find fun.

You can do a 5-minute free personality test online that tells you how to best love and how to communicate to your spouse given their unique personality. We tend to want to love and communicate to our partner in the way we like, rather than the way our partner likes.

This exercise will help you see things from the perspective of the other person.

Go to the link below for the free personality:

http://www.personalitytype.com/quiz.asp

The site does not ask for any of your personal contact information to use the free tool! See screenshot below: