How can you not know when your spouse is not happy? You can go into a room, not know anybody in there, just look around and you can tell who's happy. It's not hard - look at the body language and facial expressions. But when you are living with somebody, how do you know if they're happy or not? So many times you hear women say: "I had no clue; he never said anything."
He had to say something for you to know?
So, here are a few things to consider and see if any of these describe your life:
* Your life centers around your kids, your job, and/or your hobbies. Maybe that's making him unhappy.
* You burn your candles at all these ends with everything but love. So you're totally exhausted and there is no time for each other.
* Your home and your life seem to move from one small crisis to another and that's about it. You figure, "Okay, we're going to interact, and we're going to romance each other, but we'll save it for the weekends. Then the weekends come, and "Oh my gosh, there are so many chores to do!"
* You do this thing in your head: it's either the kids or the spouse. Well, you don't love them both the same way. Those are different loves. Living a balanced life doesn't require you choosing between them at all.
* Your lives are very fragmented. You spend your time running hither or thither and doing this and that and loving each other is just not a priority. Even when you are together, you are in your own little world. You are both easily irritated by the other. Your disagreements and misunderstandings become more frequent.
* Several months pass before you realize you haven't even sat down and talked to each other nicely. You haven't made love; you haven't done a fun thing together. Sit down and look at the time you spend on things. "I have no time." Yes, you do. There is stuff you could trim, but instead, you are trimming him.
This is why I talk so much about being your kid's mom, being your husband's girlfriend, being your wife's boyfriend -- these are very important. You need to focus on being each other as girlfriend and boyfriend. That has to be a major focus of each day. Aside from which, the kids need to see that. It makes them feel secure and it gives them hope for their future. I mean, do you spend any time connecting each day?
I had a call one time where this woman found out that for nine years, her husband left the house in the morning and spent 15 minutes, five days a week, in the back of a van with the same woman. For nine years, they would have sex every morning, every day; that's how they would get their work day started. I said, well if that had been happening in your home, it wouldn't have happened in a car with another woman.
So, when is the last time you schmoozed and tickled and rolled around and snuggled and kissed and hugged and were playful, huh? Do you take care of yourself -- your hygiene, your presentation, your health -- so you have something to give? Or, is it all about, "I just don't have anything to give?" You have to learn to say no to errands and chores and social activities and overtime and volunteer work and meetings, if it is interfering with your love.
Don't read the full newspaper everyday, don't read Twitter or your emails -- don't read all that stuff. They steal time from where you could be being cute and adorable with your spouse. Send emails to each other, leave love notes around the house. Make the most of every moment you have together. Make it an issue and a priority so I don't get a call from you on my program where you're saying , "I have no idea whatsoever why my husband and the father of my kids just said 'I am out of here.'" What an insult that is! Men don't fare as well as women after a divorce emotionally, physically, medically. Women handle this stuff a lot better, believe it or not. So, for a guy to face going through the court system which is going to give her everything, for him to make a move like that, he had to be really unhappy. And if you are truly willing to stand by the statement "I have no idea why he would be unhappy," then you're a terrible wife.
