I thought of this several days ago, and I've been stewing over it ever since. There is something that all of us do, one way or another, that is so distinctly masculine that it's included in any stereotype of men. We just can't leave well enough alone.
We can buy a perfectly good car, and can't rest until we've customized something or souped it up. We buy a computer, and have to tinker with all the settings to try to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of it, even if it's already so blazing fast that it's obscene. We sharpen a knife or tool until it's sharp, and then keep going until it will shave, and then shave cleanly, and then shave so cleanly that we can't feel the blade taking the hair off of our forearm. We'll shoot a 70 at the golf course and spend another thousand dollars on training videos and consultations with a golf pro to shoot a 69 next time. And the list goes on and on...
So why the hell don't we spend any time or effort trying to "dial in" or "trick out" our relationship or marriage until we're threatened with losing it? Does that make even a little sense to you? Frankly, I find it downright embarrassing!
The masculine brain is physically and chemically configured for problem-solving and optimizing, and we'll flat burn it up trying to squeeze one more mile per gallon or one more tenth of a second in the quarter mile out of our car, or rigging some kind of sharpening jig for a hand tool blade, or a cutting jig to get that cut just a little straighter. We'll get down on our knees with our ass higher than our head in a public place to check the lay of the ground around the hole we want a golf ball to go into without a second thought. Yet we waste this most amazing of all resources on this planet when it comes to getting along with the woman we love!
Gentlemen, that's just insane! If you're going to engineer something, or optimize something, make it something that really counts, and something with unlimited potential for payback, like your marriage! This may come as a shock to you, but "optimizing" a relationship or marriage can be more fun and rewarding than any other pursuit you can name! Just imagine a life that's filled with love, fun, adventure, sex, and laughter, and devoid of eye-rolling, fit-pitching, being screamed at for something that never happened, etc. You want some of that? Yeah, I thought so. Indeed, having lived with it, I can tell you with authority that you want all of it you can get. I can also tell you that you can have it, no matter how negatively you've been programmed to think you can't. Just take a look at this thread on our forum: http://forum.makingherhappy.com/showthread.php/542-10-steps-out-9-steps-back.
So I'm going to keep this short today, and issue a challenge to every man alive. Use your greatest natural resource, your brain, and that wonderful thing, whatever it is, that makes us push to make things the absolute best they can be, to bring your relationship and/or marriage up to a level where both of you can enjoy it to the exclusion of all else. Once you have that done, and while maintaining it, turn your energy to your children, your career, and any other worthwhile pursuit.
Get your priorities straight, take responsibility for the condition of your relationship or marriage, and channel your natural talents and energy where they can do you the most good. Who cares that you golfed a 69 last weekend if while you were doing it your wife was sitting with a bunch of women bitching about how inattentive you are, or worse, holed up in a hotel room somewhere with another man laughing about what a moron you are? It may not be that bad yet, and if you get on the ball right now, it will get better before it has a chance to get that bad.
And I'll give you a leg up, too, the relationship tweaker's encyclopedia. It's called "THE Man's Guide to Great Relationships and Marriage" and you can download your copy at http://www.makingherhappy.com right now and be getting your relationship or marriage dialed in within just a few minutes. Or you can go play another nine holes or put new plugs in the hot rod while your wife is fantasizing about (or "doing") the gardener, pool boy, your best friend - get the picture? It's your call. Make the right one.
In the meantime, live well, be well, and have a wonderful day!
David Cunningham "Being a man is something to which one should aspire, not something for which he should apologize." --David Cunningham
