Saturday Sips: To fight or not to fight

To fight or not to fight, that is the question.

Shakespeare fans, pardon my rewriting of Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, but it is so appropriate to relationships.

Each day you have multiple interactions with people, places, things, and ideas.

Many of those will be unremarkable and forgettable.

Others, however, will test your patience: a coffee maker that stops working, a detour on your way to work, a spouse who forgets to take care of an important task.

You allow those moments to stack up like toddler’s leaning tower of wood blocks until you reach the tipping point.

Then you will have a choice to make: To fight or not to fight.

Yes, it is a choice, and no, you don’t have to default to fighting.

I have five great posts to share on how to handle or avoid those difficult times.

3 Tips to Avoid Fighting with Your Spouse. Just as it’s easier and less costly to avoid a giant pothole than paying to fix your car, there’s less damage to deal with if you can avoid fighting in the first place. From yours truly.

7 Habits of Highly Happy Marriages. More goodness on laying the groundwork for a healthy marriage so there is less opportunity for strife. Via Fawn of the delightful Happy Wives Club.

5 Ways to “Push Pause“.  I think you’ll find Cheri Gregory’s situation familiar: You are feeling irritated and just one small thing happens to light the match of your anger. She offers practical advice to “push pause” on that instinct to lash out.

The Right Way to Recover from a Fight. If you do fight, Kathi Lipp offers terrific advice to recover.

Are you Meeting Your Laugh Quota?  This article from Psychology Today notes, “The average four-year-old laughs 300 times a day, a 40-year-old, only four.” Yikes. We are due for more laughter, friends, lots more! Laughter is the best medicine, as they say, or to quote the wisdom of Proverbs 17:22 (NIV): A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Have a wonderful weekend, and if it’s not spring in your corner of the world, I pray it’s spring in your heart!

Question: What strategy can you share about handling those prickly times in your relationships?

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