Quotes from Laura Doyle

Try to want what you have, instead of spending your strength trying to get what you want." —ABRAHAM L. FEINBERG

It's not helpful for your connection with your husband to discuss with him your hurt or scared feelings about him, but your feelings do deserve airtime. So make sure to honor and express those feelings somewhere else. The more you preserve the intimacy in your marriage by avoiding comments that are disrespectful to or critical of your husband, the less you're going to have those hurtful moments. You'll be too busy laughing together and holding hands.

Ambrose Redmoon wrote, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the decision that something else is more important than fear.

If you spend time taking care of yourself instead of him, you're more likely to be receptive, grateful, and happy.

My husband is smart enough to notice me trying to control him like I'm his boss or his mother—instead of his lover—no matter how clever my wording.

None of us feels good about ourselves when we're nagging, critical, or controlling.

If there's a lot of tension and distance at your house, you might ask yourself if there's something you've done that's disrespectful. If so, you have the opportunity to apologize and restore the intimacy. When the intimacy in your relationship is gone, it's almost always an indication that the respect is missing too. You might be surprised at how quickly you can get both back with a simple apology.

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being." —GOETHE

I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me." —DAVE BARRY

In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce. The trick is to find, and continue to find, grounds for marriage." —Sir Robert Anderson, Author

These are the four magical questions to help you decide whether you'd rather act on your fear or choose your faith.   1.  What am I afraid of?   2.  Is my fear realistic?   3.  Can I actually control the situation?   4.  Is it worth the intimacy it would cost me to try to control?

When you let down your guard, the truth comes out in an endearing way. You feel the incomparable pleasure and joy of being loved just as you are, not for who you think you should be.

In other words, what your desires are whispering to you may actually be the key to something bigger than a day at the beach.

Now it's no longer my goal to be independent. What I want is to be interdependent with my husband.

The woman is the fiber of the nation. She is the producer of life. A nation is only as good as its women." —MUHAMMAD ALI

Today, my rule is not to say anything to myself—even silently—that I wouldn't say to a friend.

The art of being yourself at your best is the art of unfolding your personality into the person you want to be. Be gentle with yourself, learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself, for only as we have the right attitude toward ourselves can we have the right attitude towards others. —WILFRED PETERSON

Only God is perfect. For the rest of us, there are apologies.