You’ve heard of ADD but what about EDD? EDD refers to empathy deficit disorder (as defined by a Washington psychotherapist in the Washington Post). Empathy is the ability to feel at some level what another is experiencing.

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While waiting to perform a wedding the other day, I was speaking to a guest and she told me she had recently divorced her second husband. She explained that it was shortly after they married that she realized he was addicted to his work. The good side is that he was very successful and a great provider - but she had no life with him.

I’ve heard this kind of story many times, and is one reason marriage preparation is so important. One of the things I often say to couples about premarital preparation is that it can “reduce the number of unpleasant surprises.”

This all reminded me of a list of 25 dating red flags I’ve given to young people in teaching about dating. It may not be an easy thing for a couple who are engaged to do this, but if there is a problem, NOW is the time to find it and deal with it, right?

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The funny picture below illustrates one of the many differences between men and women - how they shop.

Rather than getting all serious about this, just enjoy the picture and find amusement in the differences between the sexes.

I’ve often wondered why God made male and female so different. The only thing I can figure is that He wanted to see if we could get along with each other despite so many differences!

How do we do that? Isn’t it really how we decide to look at those differences? Do we see our male-female differences as annoyances or something that might block us from getting what we want.

Or, can we see differences as a refreshing reminder of our uniqueness (how boring if everyone was just alike), as complimentary to each other (our strengths balance us out), and most of all today, just something to laugh at.

Let this funny picture make you smile today as a reminder that we are not all just alike.

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: